We need to be mentally strong — Jones

Mike Jones says Athletic’s squad is better than the class of 2014-15 which had a spell in the play-off places under Lee Johnson.

ATHLETIC should have held more belief they could kick Sheffield United out of the FA Cup says returning midfield man Mike Jones.

The 28 year old admitted the players felt hugely deflated when they found Sheffield would play away at Manchester United. It could have been them

But spare Jones your sympathy: he simply wants to get on with helping to propel Athletic up the table, starting with three points against Millwall tomorrow.

“It’s disappointing to go out of the cup in a game there to be won,” he said. “I think if we had gone into the game with more confidence, we would have won it. Maybe we didn’t believe it on the day and they ended up nicking it. It’s even more disappointing, seeing the draw they then got.”

Former Tranmere, Bury and Crawley player Jones, whose contract expires at the end of the season, believes the Athletic squad is better than the one that made the play-off positions before falling away towards the end of last season.

“There’s a lot of quality in the squad; the same as last year when we were doing really well,” Jones added. “When you are confident you try things that may not come off and when you are not, you go into your shell a bit. You need to be mentally strong and rise above that. You can’t be weak out there.”