Speaking directly after the match against Sheffield United on Saturday, the gaffer hopes to have defensive reinforcements in the form of James Bree and Tom Lockyer available.

Bree had played every minute in the Sky Bet Championship up until last week, where a tight hamstring ruled him out of the two away trips.

Lockyer meanwhile has been absent from the matchday squad since late November and with Reece Burke suspended after being shown a red card on Saturday, could be brought back into the fold.

“We have some big players to come back in and hopefully one or two will be fresher, like Jordan Clark and Elijah Adebayo for the rest they had against Sheffield United.

“We have two home games now so hopefully we can take advantage of that, Jones continued. “Tuesday is one of our games in hand, so we want to take advantage of that and then Saturday we have another tough game.

“It has been a really tough month in terms of the sides we’ve played. Had to play the top three at home, then Sheffield United away in between, so it’s been a tough month but I’ve been proud of the team, the application and the performance levels.

With the fixture schedule showing no signs of slowing down, Jones will utilise his entire squad to ensure his team are in the best possible position to have a strong finish this season.

“We’ve had has been a disjointed few months because of covid and games called off. Now we have a full fixture list where we have to be very clever, very acute.

“Make sure the whole squad is ready to play so it’s alright having games in hand but you have to put the points on the table. We managed to do that in the first two games, today was one step too far but we will go again.”