Defender Jones feels back to his best after admitting he was under-par in first spell at Cobblers

Cobblers centre-back Lloyd Jones believes he's back to somewhere near his best after admitting he was under-par during his first spell at the club.

The 25-year-old signed for Town last January but struggled with consistency and was unable to break up Keith Curle's first choice back three of Charlie Goode, Scott Wharton and Jordan Turnbull.

With a move elsewhere lined up last summer, Jones also turned down the chance to play in the League Two play-offs. However, that proposed move did't materialise and he returned to Northampton to train before penning a short-term contract in December.

Since signing, he has started every league game and helped the Cobblers keep three clean sheets in six matches, including at Accrington Stanley on Saturday.

"I'm a lot happier with my form this time," said Jones. "When I came to the club in League Two last season, I don't think I was at my best if I'm really honest.

"I've had some time out of the game and that's made me really hungry now I'm coming back and I've put everything into it.

"It's for other people to decide whether I've played well or not but I feel I've settled in and I'm showing people what I can do.

"There's great spirit around the club here. I've been here for six games now and I think in five of them we've been competitive.

"We just need to keep picking up points both home and away. We have two home games now and we need to make that a fortress."

Jones played well at Accrington on Saturday as Town picked up a well-earned away point.

"We are happy with a point but I think we deserved all three," Jones added. "We needed a reaction after Tuesday because we know that was really disappointing.

"It's a good point and a good team performance and we're happy with the clean sheet.

"We had to dig in. Accy are a good side and it's a very tough place to come - their league position speaks for itself - and we wanted to show a reaction.

"We gave away two sloppy goals against Blackpool, which we know it wasn't good enough, but we dealt with the conditions really well and I thought we deserved all three points."