The Manchester United squad is desperate to impress Juan Mata following David Moyes's move to bring the Spaniard to Old Trafford for a club-record £37.1m, according to Phil Jones. Mata made his debut in Tuesday's 2-0 home win over Cardiff City and was involved in the goals scored by Robin van Persie and Ashley Young.

Jones, who played in central midfield behind Mata, said: "It makes an impact in the dressing room when you sign a player of that calibre. He is such a talented player on the ball. He has definitely lifted spirits in the dressing room and especially in training. We want to impress and show him that we are one of the best teams to be at. has done well and I am sure he will be a huge asset for us."

Mata did not play regularly under José Mourinho at Chelsea before his transfer and Jones expects the 25-year-old to make a big contribution once he regains match sharpness. "He will. There is no two ways about that," said Jones. "He will be a fantastic player for Manchester United. He sees the pass that sometimes no one else sees. If he continues to make them I am sure we will soon be climbing the table."

Jones said the win over Cardiff had come as a relief given United's stuttering season. "Yes. It is a positive result but we need to build on it," he said. "There is no point getting a positive result and not doing that."'

He said the players had ignored criticism from outside the club. "Daft as it sounds, we try not to take any notice of what is going on around us and concentrate on improving and getting the things right we needed to address," he said. "Slowly but surely I am sure we will do that and come back stronger than ever."

Van Persie needed only six minutes to open the scoring in a first appearance since early December following his thigh injury. And with Wayne Rooney also returning to fitness, as a second-half replacement after a month out with an abductor strain, Jones is confident before Saturday's trip to Stoke City.

Regarding Van Persie, Jones said: "He has worked hard to get back. We are delighted to have him, Wazza, Juan. Bar [Marouane] Fellaini and Michael Carrick we will be at full strength on Saturday hopefully."

Jones believes the team have missed Van Persie and Rooney. "Of course. It is no excuse but when you do miss players of that stature you need to find it elsewhere," he said. "I think we have done it in certain areas but not in the areas we would like. We are just delighted to get them back and firing again.

"It is a game by game situation now. All we can afford to do is look at Saturday. We have Stoke this weekend. We need to go there and win. Then we need to follow that up. We need to maintain a run."