Ritchie Jones has got to go some to win over his biggest critic.

Even a first goal in City colours in midweek may not have convinced him.

The midfield playmaker is starting to show why the club were so chuffed to snap him up in the summer.

With each game, Jones is enjoying more influence on the ball and popping up and around the opposing penalty area.

Having had a header brilliantly saved against Bristol Rovers, Jones then got off the mark with a low strike that packed too much punch for the Port Vale keeper.

But is that enough to satisfy his major detractor?

“I still think I can do quite a bit more,” Jones admitted, before reluctantly offering some slight self-praise. “But I definitely feel sharper and it’s coming on nicely.

“I’m really critical of myself as a player. I don’t like to make excuses.

“I had the injury in pre-season but you just get on with it. You train hard, play hard and then hopefully it comes together nicely.

“But I can feel it coming. I’m making more runs with each game, I feel match fit and I’m really enjoying playing here.”

Jones may be reluctant to big himself up just yet but boss Phil Parkinson was delighted with his first goal. And he expects more will follow.

He said: “Ritchie’s a good player. He had the header on Saturday and is a very good striker of the ball.

“Now he’s got his first one, you’d fancy him over the course of the season to chip in with goals from all areas.”

Jones and Michael Flynn have become the fulcrum of the side, with Chris Mitchell tucking in on the right.

The former Manchester United trainee believes his partnership with Flynn shows plenty of promise. Jones added: “It’s been good so far. I understand his game and he understands mine.

“It’s quite fluid. If I see him sitting back then he’ll be shouting ‘Jonesy get in the box’ and likewise if I’m sat then he can go forward.

“The first thing is that we try and keep our shape. We need to make us hard to get through and then try and get forward from there.

“Flynny’s been in the game a long time and he’s got great experience. I can still learn from people like that, which can only be a good thing.”

Jones shares the general view within the team that the points tally does not reflect City’s level of performances. He is not daunted by tomorrow’s trip to pre-season promotion favourites Crawley.

“All the games are going to be tough. The standard is not much different to League One and there are probably a lot of teams who could play in that division.

“We played well and got a good point at Morecambe and then they went and smashed Crawley 6-0. But we’re all 100 per cent dedicated and we’ll approach every week the same.

“We’re playing good football and the lads enjoy being part of it. We enjoy getting the ball down, passing it around and being very positive.

“You won’t be able to look at the table properly until around Christmas. If we just keep playing like we do, then I think we’ll be fine.”