Albion full-back looking to bounce back in Villa Park visit
BILLY Jones has urged his team-mates not to let last night's Capital One Cup third-round exit knock them off track in the Barclays Premier League as they look to bounce back in Sunday’s derby clash at Villa (ko 4pm).
The Baggies were defeated 2-1 by Liverpool despite taking an early lead through Gabriel Tamas at The Hawthorns.
And the 25-year old full-back believes Steve Clarke’s men will now be even more fired up for this weekend’s trip to Villa Park.
“The best thing after a disappointing performance, which has led to losing a game, is for another game to come around quickly,” said Jones.
“We’ve got three days and then we’re playing the derby.
“It’s coming around quickly and we’re looking forward to it.
“We had a disappointing result against Fulham but we came back.
“That’s the sign of a good team.
"And if we can do that again on Sunday that would be great.
"And if we can do that again on Sunday that would be great.
“After the disappointment of losing a game it’s good to win again as soon as possible.
“We’ve done it once this season after a disappointing performance at Craven Cottage and we turned it around and got a good win against Reading in our next game."
But the former Preston defender is frustrated Albion did not capitalise on their positive start to the cup tie.
“We wanted to do well in this cup this year, but we will look at the positives for the season so far and take them into the big derby on Sunday," Jones added.
“We wanted to do well in this cup this year, but we will look at the positives for the season so far and take them into the big derby on Sunday," Jones added.
“We were disappointed at half-time because we made such a good start and kicked off at a really great tempo.
“We have talked about turning The Hawthorns into a fortress, making really quick starts and making teams feel uncomfortable - and when we were 1-0 up after ten minutes we seemed to have succeeded.
“But then we didn’t kick on and the first half at times was a little bit disappointing.
“We let Liverpool get back into the game and control the game at times.
“It was good to improve in the second half but we’re not happy with losing the game.”
Jones also backed Baggies’ keeper Ben Foster, who he felt was unsighted for the Red’s equaliser.
He added: “I feel for Ben a little bit and I think he might have had his view blocked.
“Jonas Olsson felt the striker was in the line of the ball so Ben didn’t see it until late."