Having reached the milestone age of 30 earlier this year, defender Billy Jones is still looking to improve his game to give him the best chance of being successful with Sunderland. The finer details of opposition analysis, nutrition and match preparation become even more important as the right-back revealed what works best for him to have the upper and over the opposition. Jones talks of fine margins, the ever-changing face of the Championship football and how preparing for games has evolved over the years…
So, Billy, how have you found the season so far?
It’s been good to remember what this league’s all about. I’ve played in this division before, obviously, and made it to the Premier League from here. You’re aware of the Saturday-Tuesday games you do. We had a tough pre-season which set us up for that and we adapted well as a group. This month, there are a lot of games and a lot of points available for us to move up the table.
Do you think that the standard of the Championship has increased since you last played in it?
I think it’s improved again with the quality of players you’re coming up again. I don’t think it’s changed from the point of view that everyone can beat anyone. That was always the way when I was last here in the league and it’s very evident so far. But I think one thing which I’ve noticed coming down is that you’ll get your chances. If we can keep clean sheets we’ll always get chances. That’s not the way in the Premier league because you’ll work so hard to create opportunities and you’ll maybe get half-chances, but in every game, we’ve played we’ve had good chances where we could have scored two or three goals. If we can be clinical and keep clean sheets, we’ll have a successful season. It’s ruthless if you’re not 100 per cent on it in the Premier league but the games aren’t one sided here in the Championship.
Where do you stand on the old cliché of ‘learning more from a defeat than a victory’?
Well when we had a poor pre-season result against Celtic, we came in the next day to watch the video. We learned from it and heard from the gaffer about what was acceptable and what wasn’t. It’s important to look back and learn from defeats to make sure certain things don’t happen again – that way, you’re always looking to improve. We’re lucky we’ve entered a busy month to try and forget about those defeats, and the easiest way to do that is to get good results.
Are you one to do stacks of research on who you’re coming up against?
Obviously, I do as much as I can as a professional to benefit my personal performance and the team’s performance. It’s ideal to have an advantage of recovering properly, doing everything professionally and analysing your opponents. We study the opposition together as a team but we also get sent individual player clips of who we’re up against. It makes sense if you want to know the player you’re up against and what he’s about. I obviously know some of the players I’m coming up against but there are a lot of young lads coming into teams, so it’s great to be able to see what they’re about and what their strengths and weaknesses are. It’s a good advantage to have at the football club, the analysis side, and it really does make a difference.
Has your pre-match routine changed at all over the years?
It’s about recognising things within your own game and maybe making changes with your body and what you need to do before training and afterwards to make sure you’re at your best. When I was younger it was just a case of turning up, doing the business and there were no issues of tightness after a game or things like that. Whereas now you hear about players having to do different things. I know what works and for me and I do what I need to do to make sure I perform to the best of my ability. That comes with age, but I’m always learning and I try and learn from the mistakes I’ve throughout my career to eradicate things to make me a better player.