John Stones was left out of the Manchester City squad for Wednesday’s derby for tactical reasons, Pep Guardiola has revealed.

Stones was absent for the 2-0 win at Old Trafford and was an unused substitute for the Champions League second leg against Tottenham Hotspur a week earlier.

The 24-year-old has been in and out of Guardiola’s side of late, with either Nicolas Otamendi or Vincent Kompany coming in alongside ever-present Aymeric Laporte.

Stones has featured in just three of City’s last 15 games in all competitions and Guardiola said on Friday his failure to nail down a place was simply down to rotation.

“The week before it was Danilo and the week before it was [Fabian] Delph, now [Delph] is injured again,” he said.

Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Show all 23 1 /23 Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Manchester United v Manchester City The Independent Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City David de Gea 3 Manchester United Getty Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Matteo Darmian 4 Manchester United Getty Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Chris Smalling 5 Manchester United Getty Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Victor Lindelof 5 Manchester United Getty Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Ashley Young 4 Manchester United Getty Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Andreas Pereira 6 Manchester United Getty Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Fred 5 Manchester United Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Paul Pogba 5 Manchester United Getty Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Luke Shaw 5 Manchester United Getty Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Jesse Lingard 4 Manchester United Getty Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Marcus Rashford 6 Manchester United Getty Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Ederson 7 Manchester City Getty Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Kyle Walker 6 Manchester City Getty Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Vincent Kompany 7 Manchester City Getty Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Aymeric Laporte 6 Manchester City Getty Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Oleksandr Zinchenko 6 Manchester City Getty Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Fernandinho 6 Manchester City Getty Images Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Ilkay Gundogan 7 Manchester City Getty Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City David Silva 8 Manchester City Getty Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Bernardo Silva 8 Manchester City Getty Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Raheem Sterling 7 Manchester City Getty Player ratings: Manchester United vs Manchester City Sergio Aguero 7 Manchester City Getty

“It was our decision. Not fitness, it was a decision on what I saw. Nico was important in the last months and in the last few games he’s not involved.

“I like to involve everyone, that’s what I’m looking for. Sometimes we need one specific quality from our centre-half. That’s the reason why.”

Guardiola started Kompany at Old Trafford and revealed that his decision had been influenced by United’s counter-attacking and direct approach.

“When it’s a lot of long balls I prefer Nico and Vinny,” he said. “When there’s more of a gap, like Chelsea, Stones is an incredible player in those situations.

“When teams play high, I like to have Leroy [Sane], when they are deep David Silva in the pockets.

“It depends on the quality of the players and what I see in the training sessions, if they are happy, a bit more down.