Jones arrives at City after W-League stints at Newcastle Jets and Adelaide United.

Jones spent the most recent offseason with NPLSA side Salisbury Inter SC, playing 16 games and netting four goals.

But the 23-year-old also played for Chinese second tier side Guangdong Soka and says she matured as a result of the top notch quality she faced in China.

“The NPL is difficult coming from such a high standard like the W-League or China and realising certain players can’t do certain things,” Jones told The Women’s Game.

“Just from that perspective it makes it harder, but individually, it makes you work harder and fitness wise it’s good too.

"China was very hard. It was a huge learning experience, not just football wise, but as a person. I didn’t know anyone there and I just took a leap of faith basically.

“It was just having that composure and realising what a professional environment is – trying to train, eat and recover properly and how to be a proper athlete.

"I don’t think we get taught that. When you’re younger, you’re not in a professional environment long enough to really experience or know what you’re doing.

Jones in action for the Reds last season

“The standard is awesome, their technical ability is so much higher than our general technical ability. In the W-League, you have your standouts and then you have those players that are still good, but they’re not excellent, so there’s that gap.

“In China, there’s no gap, everyone has a general standard that’s high. It was good for me if I wanted to get technically better – there was already a standard there I needed to reach regardless.”

Jones is determined to break into the club’s starting XI and is relishing the challenge of competing with her teammates.

The 23- year-old was substituted on for Janna Lawson in City’s 2-0 loss to Canberra United last week as the Melburnians were missing a number of key players.

Jones has to compete with the likes of Lawson, Rhali Dobson, Helen Caceres, American Jasmyne Spencer and Matilda Kyah Simon who is currently injured.

She said she saw City as the right career move and was amazed with the professionalism at the club.

“The quality in this team is awesome. As a player, I’m trying to burst into the starting XI and I think it’s great,” she said.

“It makes me work harder and the training standard automatically jumps up. It’s great all round for the younger girls to see where the standard is at and where they need to be.

“It’s great to have strong imports and strong Matildas within our squad because it makes everyone have to work harder.

Jones playing for the Jets in 2015.

“When you compare it to other clubs, we’ve got change rooms, locker rooms and it’s as simple as having meals here. The training pitches are a walk from the change room. Everything is set up and it’s all in one area.

“You don’t have to get into a car or travel to a training pitch, so everything is very convenient and accessible.

“We have physios and there’s never a wait. I don’t know how to explain it, but coming from other clubs, you have everything available to you.

“It’s realistic other clubs can do the same, it should and can happen, but obviously it costs money and it’s just up to what they’re willing to spend.”

City’s start to this season doesn’t get any easier as powerhouse Sydney FC travel to Melbourne today to make it two in a row after winning their derby 3-0 last week.

Jones has never played on AAMI Park, but she feels she has enough experience to rise for the occasion.

“You always have nerves regardless of whether you’ve played in big stadiums before,” she said.

“It’s more calming yourself when it gets to the point where you need to come on as a substitute or when you are in the starting XI.

“It’s just finding that composure when you’ve had a bit of experience, so I think I can stay relatively calm.”