MARK Jones is looking for a swift response from Oxford City’s midweek defeat to North Leigh when they travel to East Thurrock United tomorrow.

City fell to a surprising 3-0 defeat against the Millers in the semi-final of the Oxfordshire Senior Cup, after going 2-0 down inside five minutes.

But caretaker-manager Jones is not pressing the panic button, and believes a top-half finish in Vanarama National League South remains a realistic target for his side.

Jones said: “Make no mistake, it wasn’t a great result against North Leigh.

“We made a very poor start and after that, a lot of the game is affected and it was always going to be a long road back.

“People’s judgement will always be on the result, but we had a lot of teenagers in the side, so I’m not going to get too down or disappointed.”

Jones’s target of a top-11 finish was boosted by last week’s 1-0 victory over Whitehawk.

And City’s boss believes they are still well-placed to do that, despite their inconsistent form.

He said: “We’ve been pretty good defensively lately, and we had a good result in the league last weekend, which has taken us 15 points clear of the relegation places.

“I’ve said to the players that it would be great to finish the season strongly and get ourselves into the top half of the table.

“It’s an opportunity for the players to show what they are made of.

“I’m not saying they are playing for their places next season, because we are still learning and developing as a team, but we are of course looking to the future.”

Centre back Jean-Yves Niate is a doubt with a knee problem.

However, City should welcome back defender Godfrey Poku and midfielder Rhys Fleet, who missed the midweek defeat.

Freddie Grant (gashed foot) is still a week away from fitness.

Jones added: “We won’t be dwelling on Tuesday night.

“We look forward to Saturday.

“We’ve got a tough week ahead, but top-half is definitely our target now.

“We finished with 54 points last season, so why not aim to better that tally this year.”

TOMORROW'S TEAM

Oxford City (v East Thurrock Utd, away): from Hill, Ngathe, Peake-Pijnen, Davies, Henderson, Niate, Mgamvoulou, Poku, Fleet, Louis, Fondop, Carvalho, Ford, Anderson, Khawaja, Tutton.