Groves: Hughes brings a wealth of experience

AFC Bournemouth manager Paul Groves believes that new signing Richard Hughes will bring a wealth of experience to the Cherries squad.

The 33 year old midfielder has returned to Dean Court ten years and two months after leaving for Portsmouth in June 2002.

The Scottish midfielder made 154 appearances for the Cherries before spending the next 9 years at Fratton Park, playing 165 games.

But Hughes hasn't played a game since 28th December 2010, after failing to feature for the remainder of the 2010/11 season for Portsmouth and then retiring after leaving Fratton Park following a dispute over his contract.

Despite his lack of recent match action, Hughes will sign a two year contract this week, once he has completed a medical.

Groves told the Daily Echo...

"As a person, he is very intelligent and a solid character. He brings an intelligence to the pitch in terms of his positional play, breaking up play and sensing danger. He will give us balance on the left-hand side and more of a physical presence in both boxes.

"He has lots of different attributes. He has a wealth of experience, a great understanding of the game and he has played at the top level. He will bring that knowledge to the group.

"The circumstances were unfortunate with regard to the position he found himself in at Portsmouth. He hasn`t played for a while but he looks after himself. It might take him a little longer than other people to get fit because he has had a spell off. What he will bring to the squad is an ingredient we don`t have a great deal of."



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