"We rode our luck in the opening quarter but after that we played some good football and the team as a whole played well," said Jones.
"It was a case of making sure we kept them out in the second half but with all the debutants playing well to start the season with a 4-0 win in a new stadium was outstanding for our supporters.
"It was a great atmosphere and I'm very pleased for the fans who kept the noise volume up throughout the match.
"It is important to start the season off well but it is only one game and it is a hard old slog ahead."
Nigel Adkins tried to remain confident.
He said: "We had an early chance and presented Cardiff with problems until they scored.
"I'm told that the second goal could have been disallowed for offside but then the third killed us.
"We did all right in the second half and kept the ball far better but it was disappointing to give away that late penalty.
"We were given a hiding but the players must respond in the right way. We know we need to defend much better but it would have been a big shock if we had taken anything from this game which gave our players a real welcome to the Championship."