AFC Wimbledon new-boy Darren Jones is targeting back-to-back victories for the first since August when Hartlepool are the visitors to the Cherry Red Records stadium tonight.

The centre back made his debut against Exeter City on Saturday, after leaving League One Shrewsbury Town, as the Dons recorded a hard-fought 2-1 win.

And although it was just their second win in 11 games, and first home victory since November, the 30-year-old believes things are looking up for his new club.

He said: “You’ve got to look forward and be confident in the ability of yourself and the players.

“I’ve only been here a few days but the tempo is good and professional and we’ve just got to put in more performances like we did against Exeter.

“That win was vitally important and it sets us up well for Tuesday. We’ll be more confident and there will be more belief and hopefully we’ll get another win.

“You’ve got to keep winning home games. If you do that and get a few away draws or nick the odd win you’ll be in the playoffs before you know it.”

Wimbledon sit in 11th place in League Two after Saturday’s victory, with tonight’s opponents Hartlepool just one point behind in 14th place.

And Jones believes it is important to force some daylight between them and the teams closer to the relegation zone with consecutive wins.

He added: “It’s really important to beat clubs below you because that’s when you start pulling away from them.”

“You don’t want to get sucked into a relegation battle towards the end of the season.

“You just need to keep close to those playoffs and keep pushing and hopefully we’ll get there.

“I played against Hartlepool last year and they got relegated but they’ve had a lot of personal change since then.

“We’ve just got to battle hard and the goals will come and the result will take care of itself.”