Jones Rallies Reds Troops

Phil Jones couldn’t hide his disappointment in the aftermath of Monday’s Manchester derby, but the defender says that the Reds cannot dwell on the defeat as the destiny of the Barclays Premier League title remains very much in United’s hands.

The Reds now face back-to-back away trips to Stoke City and West Ham and Jones’s message is clear: “We’ve got to bounce back. We’ll get on the training pitch and do what we do best: recover, and we will.

"There were a few sad faces in the dressing room after the game because it’s not one you want to get beat in," he told MUTV. "But we’ve got to keep our heads up. We’re still in a fantastic position.

“The title race is not over but we’re in a great position and the lads deserve an enormous amount of credit for putting us there. Hopefully we go [to Stoke] on Sunday, bounce back like we always do and go on to win the league.”

Jones produced the Reds' second-half equaliser against City when he challenged Vincent Kompany to reach Robin van Persie’s cross, and he was closest to blocking the shots of City's goalscorers James Milner and Sergio Aguero.

That was scant consolation to the 21-year-old. When asked if the goal was his, Jones responded: “It’s irrelevant, to be honest. If I score or not, I’m not bothered as long as we win so… we’ll wait and see.”

Nevertheless, his determination in helping to force the ball over the line was typical of his night's work. Even when United went a goal down, Jones believed the Reds would find a way back into the match.

“We’ve done that every time we’ve been a goal down this season,” he said. “We’ve responded well. We don’t want to be in that situation but when it does happen we do brilliantly to get back in the game. We did that again and we were full of confidence and had the upper hand and we got stung by a late goal.

“It was a very open game from the start and both teams were attacking. We played some good stuff at times but it wasn’t to be.”