The defender had a tumultuous start to life at the Etihad Stadium and Rio Ferdinand feels that he would have benefited from his team-mate's guidance
Former England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand believes Vincent Kompany's injury woes have made life difficult for John Stones at Manchester City.
Stones became the world's second most expensive defender when he joined City for an initial £47.5 million from Everton last August.
Impressive early season showings gave way to some error-stained displays alongside Nicolas Otamendi and converted left-back Aleksandar Kolarov at the heart of defence.
Club captain Kompany has been restricted to five senior starts this term as he attempts to put a succession of persistent fitness problems behind him and was ruled out of Saturday's 0-0 draw at Huddersfield Town in the fifth round of the FA Cup.