Dave Jones was far more relaxed than the last time we met.

The former Cardiff City manager was willing to chat before his Hartlepool United team took on Newport County at Rodney Parade – and he was able to smile and crack a joke or two when he reflected on a 3-1 defeat.

In between he took some verbal stick from home fans who chanted ‘Jonesy, Jonesy what’s the score?’, but the old uptight behaviour of Jones from his days in charge of the Bluebirds was no longer in evidence.

Perhaps part of that was due to the fact that while his players faced a seven hour journey back to the North East of England on the team coach, Jones and his assistant Kevin Cooper were home by around 6pm.

Both still live in the Cowbridge area and were able to take Sunday off before leaving South Wales in the early hours of Monday morning to take charge of training.

Jones was clearly frustrated that his Hartlepool team were unable to counter County’s robust performance on the desperately poor playing surface.

He had watched their 2-0 home win against Stevenage a week earlier, but was left was disappointed that ‘Pools were unable to stop Newport earning a first win since mid-November.

“I’ve saw the best of this group against Stevenage and now the worst,” said the 60-year-old Jones. “We did not adapt to the conditions. We have to be bigger and braver.

“Our team has an average age of 22 and they are learning. No complaints, though, because we have to defend better against set plays.

“We knew Newport would play for corners, free-kicks and we didn’t deal with them.

“The pitch surprised me, but the way Newport played didn’t. We simply failed to deal with it.

“We wanted to play and pass, but you can’t play on that so you have to adapt. Newport did, we didn’t.

“The pitch was scandalous, but I ain’t blaming that for the result in any way. Sometimes you need to put your foot through it instead of trying to play.

“My players need to learn – quickly.”

Hartlepool are 18th in the League Two table, eight points in front of bottom club Newport having played a game more. They are still not out of relegation danger and need a solid run of positive results.

Their next test is against Yeovil Town at home on Saturday, while Newport travel to play relegation rivals Cheltenham Town at Whaddon Road.

Cheltenham drew 0-0 against Crewe in their latest match, while they travel to play promotion contenders Luton Town on Tuesday.

Then they take on Newport at home followed by fourth from bottom Notts County, won won 2-1 against Crawley Town on Saturday.

Newport manager Graham Westley is still hoping to add one or two new signings to his squad before Tuesday’s transfer deadline – and after that he will hope his Exiles squad will battle all the way to the end of this season.