ANDREW Hughes believes he and Darren Jones can form a perfect partnership at the heart of defence to keep Newport County AFC in the Football League.

Jones returned to the club on Monday and the pair frustrated Leyton Orient for 85 minutes on Tuesday night before a late penalty condemned County to a 1-0 defeat.

And Hughes was impressed with the way the former Exiles captain performed alongside him.

“Darren slotted straight back into the team,” said Hughes.

“It was like the old days. He has managed to come straight into the team and he did well.

“I played with Darren all of last season and I enjoyed playing with him again.

“Before the game he was telling me that he hasn’t played in eight weeks or something like that, but it didn’t show at all.”

The Exiles remain just four points above the League Two relegation zone ahead of Saturday’s trip to Morecambe.

And Hughes says the players have to take their frustrations out on the Shrimps.

“To lose in the manner that we did is very frustrating,” he said.

“I thought the team played very well. We kept the ball well throughout the evening and I don’t think we deserved to lose the game, a draw would have been a fair result.

“It was the softest penalty I’ve ever seen but we’ve got to take out our frustration on Morecambe now.

“I think we’re in a false position in the league at the moment,” he added.

“If we play like we did [on Tuesday] we will win more games than we will lose.

“Morecambe on Saturday is another tough game, but it we reproduce the same level of performance, then we can be confident of getting a result.”

Manager Warren Feeney was also impressed with the way Jones started his third spell at his hometown club.

“Jonesy knows the league, he’s experienced and I want experienced people around me to stay in this league,” said Feeney.

“He knows the club and you’d think he’d been playing week in and week out.

“I thought he looked comfortable, he covered well and it’s great for the young boys to have him there.

“I’ve seen a lot of people commenting about what went on when he left but I don’t care what went on in the past.

“My aim is to keep this team in this league and I don’t care how it’s done.

“I want people around who are going to put in a shift and Jonesy is certainly one of those people.”