League North trophy and then captaining the side to victory over Charlton Athletic Reserves (winners of the FAPRL South) to take the national title. He also featured as the reserves secured the Pontins Holiday League title and the Pontins Holiday League Cup, once again acting as captain as Manchester United were narrowly denied a fifth trophy at the hands of Manchester City Reserves in the final of the Manchester Seniors Cup. Jones was allocated a squad number, 31, during the 2003–04 season and made his senior debut as a late substitute in a 1–0 home win over Arsenal in the League Cup. He made his full team debut in Manchester United's shock 0–0 home draw with non-league Exeter City in the FA Cup third round. Despite these opportunities Jones found it hard to break into the first team ahead of Roy Keane and Paul Scholes and spent much of the remainder of his Manchester United career either in the reserves or out on loan. Preston North End For the 2004–05 season Jones was sent on a season long loan to Football League Championship side Preston North End to gain first-team experience making his debut at Watford on 6 August 2005. Good performances from the bench soon saw him established as first-choice in midfield and he scored his first goal for the club in a 4–0 away win at Ipswich Town on 29 August 2005. Jones played a key role in a long unbeaten run which pushed Preston up into the Championship play-off positions, making 24 appearances, including three as substitute, and scoring 3 goals. NEC Nijmegen Jones' spell at Preston was followed by joining Eredivisie side NEC Nijmegen on a loan deal until the end 2005–06 season. Wearing number five, he again had to spend time on the substitutes bench to begin with, but impressed sufficiently in brief appearances against Ajax and Sparta Rotterdam to be brought on at half-time against ADO Den Haag on 22 January 2006. Jones scored two goals in a 5–0 win to secure a place in the starting line-up for the next game, where he again scored twice, this time to salvage a draw against Willem II. One of those goals was from the penalty spot. He started every game for the rest of the season in a left centre midfield role in NEC's 4–3–3 formation. During a match against Heracles, he scored a goal