MARK Jones wants to see a quick reaction from his Oxford City players when they travel to Hungerford Town in Vanarama National League South tomorrow.

City were well-beaten by Gloucester City 3-0 on New Year’s Day as they put in an uncharacteristically disjointed performance.

But Jones is hopeful that they will get back on track at Bulpit Lane against another side who are engaged in a relegation battle.

Jones said: “We are a pretty honest bunch, and the Gloucester game wasn’t a good performance.

“For whatever reason, we were off the standards that we have set over the last few months.

“I don’t know whether we perhaps took Gloucester a little lightly, but whatever the reason was, it just wasn’t good enough.

“The second and third goals came from comical errors, which have been uncharacteristic, but as a group, we just seemed to lack a little bit of focus and intensity.”

Despite the defeat, City remain four points above the drop zone, and Jones is backing his side to bounce back.

“I think it will be really interesting to see the response,” he said.

“In the last few months, we’ve been on a good run, but the facts are we are still in a precarious position.

“I’m not going to over-criticise. The players have been magnificent for us in recent months, but we just need to get back to working very hard and playing with energy.”

Jones is hopeful of adding a new signing to the squad ahead of tomorrow’s trip as he is in talks with Watford Academy defender Connor Stevens.

Stevens, who plays in Watford’s Under 23 side, is a talented centre-half, whom Jones knows well from his time coaching at Vicarage Road.

“We’ve been a bit light defensively since Lee Henderson’s injury. Connor is a second-year pro at Watford and he can give us good competition in that area.”

Despite the New Year’s Day defeat, Jones remains in upbeat mood.

He said: “It’s a very even league, there are many teams capable of beating each other. We let ourselves down a bit on Monday, but with the character of my side, we will hopefully see what we are about tomorrow.”

Oxford City (v Hungerford Tn, away): from J Stevens, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Poku, Oastler, McEachran, Fofana, Sinclair, Paterson, Hirst, Pearce, Tutton, Forde, Navarro, Godwin-Malife, Sanders, C Stevens.