Gary Jones previews this weekend's Sky Bet League 1 game against his former club Bradford City...
Notts County midfielder Gary Jones is looking forward to taking on his former side Bradford City this weekend, but knows that it will be a tough game for his current club.
Jones spoke to the media on Thursday to preview Saturday’s Sky Bet League 1 encounter at Meadow Lane and started by reflecting on a run of results that he feels haven’t reflected Notts’ performances of late.
“The last few games we’ve played really well and we haven’t got the just rewards,” said the 37-year-old. “But that’s football and that’s what happens and you’ve just got to keep going, dust yourself off and take every game as it comes.”
Looking back at last weekend’s defeat to Swindon Town, Jones had words of support for team-mate Liam Noble, who was sent off late in the game, but also said that the young midfielder needs to learn from his latest dismissal and subsequent suspension.
“Every player’s got a different character about them, but all I would say is that he’s a very good player,” he added. “I don’t want to take that nastiness that he’s got in his game, you wouldn’t want to take that out of it, but sometimes you’ve got to draw the line.
“He’s had three sending offs this year and hopefully he can learn his lesson from this latest red card.”
Jones spent two seasons at Bradford prior to joining Notts in the summer, helping the Bantams secure promotion to Sky Bet League 1, and he feels that Manager Phil Parkinson has hit upon a winning formula with his side.
“The way they setup, big Hanson, big Stead, they’re a massive threat and I think they play to their strengths and when they play against the Premier League boys and the higher league boys, they can’t handle them,” he continued.
“I think the way that they setup and the way they play, especially on the pitch at the moment, where it’s not too good, I think they’ve ground out results and it’s a fantastic run again.
“They’ve got a good squad, they’ve got a good budget there, they can attract decent players and as I know Phil [Parkinson] and as I know Steve [Parkin], they won’t settle for second best and we’ve got to be on our mettle if we want to win the game, we’ve got to be flat out, 100 percent at our best.”
Subscribers can watch the full interview with Gary Jones on Magpie Player.