MANCHESTER, England -- John Stones has sympathy for any defender coming up against Sergio Aguero when the Manchester City striker is in such blistering form.
The Argentine striker scored his second hat trick of the Champions League in Wednesday night's 4-0 victory over Borussia Monchengladbach to take his tally to nine goals in five games this season.
Stones knows just how good the 28-year-old is after facing him four times last season as an Everton player.
And the England international says working with him on a daily basis and trying to stop him in training has already improved him as a defender.
"You've got to be on your toes and I think the players bring the best out of you," Stones told reporters on Thursday. "You have to raise your game and try and compete with the best. That's why you come and play on these big stages to play against the best and try to prove yourself.
"His goalscoring record is a joke. It's not just that -- his link-up play, movement -- these things go unrecognised because of his goalscoring but he's an all-round player for his size.
"He can head a ball. He's the full package and it's great for me to play alongside him day in, day out."
Stones was also full of praise for new City keeper Claudio Bravo after he helped keep the club's first clean sheet of the season.
The Chile international was heavily criticised for his performance in Saturday's 2-1 win over Manchester United when he collided with Stones late in the first half to gift Zlatan Ibrahimovic a goal.
Bravo was relatively untroubled against Monchengladbach, making one good stop from Lars Stindl, and Stones said the new City No. 1 is already starting to feel at home following his £13.5m move from Barcelona.
"He's come in and picked up from where we started since I came in," the 22-year-old added. "He's fitted in really well, he obviously knows a few players and got to know everyone well.
"It was the same when I came in, everyone went out of their way to talk to me and make sure I was all right. That's what's happened with him.
"It's credit to him. He's come in, got his head down and worked hard and put in good performances. It's credit to him for coming over to a different country with a different atmosphere.
"It's a bit of the unknown for him and I think personally that he's done brilliant. It's nothing more than he deserves."