Shot-shy Puritans have to sharpen up as they head to Peterborough

The Puritans are the joint lowest scorers in the league, having scored just eight goals in their 11 matches so far, and drew another blank last Saturday as they were held to a 0-0 home draw by Blyth Spartans.

It was a fourth successive clean sheet in the league for Banbury, who haven't conceded since losing 4-0 at South Shields on September 2, but Jones knows his team are struggling to find their best form as an attacking force.

"That is a positive, and I think it's a positive that people went away (on Saturday) slightly disappointed not to have won," said Jones. "That shows a little bit of progress, and it is a bit of an achievement to get four clean sheets on the spin.

"But we are aware that on the flip side of that we need to improve our goals for column, and it is not for the want of trying. We don't set the team up to be defensive, we always encourage the players to go forward, but on Saturday we didn't test their goalkeeper enough.

"It is always a balance you are looking for as a manager, we want to excite and we want to score goals, and we probably aren't scoring enough at the moment. But if you can't win the game don't lose it.

"We have got a big game at Peterborough now, and we need to see if we can turn one point into three."

The match with Blyth was a first in two weeks for Banbury, and on the whole Jones was satisfied with a point.

"It was a tight game, and credit to Blyth they came here and set themselves up very well and made it difficult for us," said the Puritans boss. "We huffed and puffed, but lacked a bit of quality in the final third.

"We got in and around their box enough, but there wasn't loads of clear-cut chances. It was one of those games where we could have won it 1-0, but equally we could have lost it 1-0.

"There was no lack of effort, but when we got in the final third we often chose the wrong pass."

Meanwhile, Banbury have lost the services of defender Dom Revan who has been recalled from his loan by Barnet, and the club has released striker Tyrell Hamilton.