STEPHANE ZUBAR has insisted his costly defensive blunder against AFC Wimbledon last weekend completely overshadowed his first goal in more than three years.

The 28-year-old centre-back lost possession after dallying on the ball near the corner flag to gift the Wombles a 3-1 lead at Bootham Crescent.

He later netted for the first time since an FA Cup tie outing for Bournemouth against Gillingham in November 2011 but his close-range effort proved no consolation for the Guadeloupe international, who has promised not to be "stupid" and make the same error twice.

"I only felt disappointment," Zubar revealed of his emotions after the Dons debacle. "I made a huge, huge mistake and take full responsibility for the result.

"I think I lost the team three points. Every week, you will see mistakes in football, but you should learn from them and, the next time I am in that situation, I will kick the ball.

"The most important thing is not to repeat the mistake because, if I did it again, that would mean I am stupid. Last weekend is over now and it's a new start in a new week against a different team, so I am hoping to change things around."

Zubar does feel, however, that he can carry on getting his name on the scoresheet, adding: "It's important to score goals when you're a defender. It's not just down to the strikers and Keith (Lowe) has got four this season."

The ex-Caen reserve will be returning to a club he played for six times during a loan spell in 2013 and reckons, with the hosts having lost six and drawn one of their last seven fixtures, the trip to Gigg Lane is well-timed.

"It's an important game for us and them," he explained. "They want to finish in the top seven and get in the play-offs but, at the moment, they're not doing well, so I think it's the right time to play them.

"I think it will be quite a tight game but we're going there to try and get three points and, if we start well, they could come under pressure straight away from the crowd."

Zubar is expected to line up again alongside Brad Halliday at Bury with the ex-Plymouth centre back stressing that he was not surprised by the on-loan teenage Middlesbrough right-back's man-of-the-match display on his professional debut.

"Brad was fantastic but, to be honest, over the four weeks he has been here, I've been telling him he's a good player and I like him," Zubar pointed out.

"He did the same things in the game that he's been doing in training and showed his ability."

Should Carlisle beat Northampton at home tomorrow and Tranmere gain at least a point at Burton, then City will drop into the relegation zone should they lose to Bury in their final fixture before Christmas.

A draw might also not to be enough to avoid that scenario but Zubar is still setting his sights high, saying: "I came here to make a difference and, if we go into the bottom two for Christmas, I would be disappointed, but I'm not really looking at the teams below us.

"Before the Wimbledon match, I was looking at how many points we were behind the play-off positions. It was 12 and I thought we could make that up.

"I still do, because I believe in the lads. We just need to win two games in a row and things will get better."