Preston North End’s Welsh full back Andrew Hughes has only been here a few short months, but is already starting to feel part of the furniture.
The Lilywhites’ No.16 reflected during the latest international break that he has enjoyed his time at Deepdale so far and that he is learning with every training session.
Speaking to iFollow PNE he said: “I feel like I settled pretty quick and I feel part of the family now. It is pleasing to have a number of games under my belt; it hasn’t been the greatest in terms of results, but to get the win before the international break was massive and there is a bit of confidence going around after that and hopefully we can kick on.
“It has been a good learning experience so far. I believe every player is learning every day of their career – I certainly am – so I have come in, tried to do my best every day and learn from it.”
And he feels that the Wigan result was one that has been on the cards for quite a while: “The luck hasn’t been on our side the last few weeks, it has felt like we are getting punished for the most little things like ricochets and stuff like that, so Saturday was a long time coming,” he continued.
“The equalising goal against Villa sums up the season so far, that could have landed anywhere and it just landed right at the feet of one of their players and he poked it in.
“It was the 87th minute when Moulty scored and you could almost feel that you were home and dried, so there was a disappointment after that game, because we had the three points in our hands, but if you had asked people at half-time, most people would have taken a draw.
“The emotions in the game were crazy, from going 2-0 behind, to then leading 3-2, to 3-3 to then almost losing the game through a penalty – I have never been involved in a game like that in my life. You didn’t know what to feel at the end of the game, it was just crazy.”
Going into the two weeks’ worth of rest and preparation for the clash with Hull City at the KCOM Stadium next Saturday, the 26-year-old feels that the break comes at a good time, but the squad are determined to use it to be ready to push on when hostilities resume.
“It might have been nice to have a break, but it is good time for players like Seani to get more fitness and the other injured lads to get back.
“By the next break we could be in a much better position. It is still early days in the season, so if we can get a run together we can find ourselves climbing that table really quickly and that is what we will be aiming to do.
“It is a marathon, not a sprint. We haven’t got off to the best of starts, but there is a long way to go. All the boys, the staff and the management have been really positive and we showed that against Wigan and we want to keep that going now.
“I was told before I came here that everyone was all together and during a run like we had sometimes it can get the better of you, but that was not the case here, everyone remained calm and focused and that is a good sign,” he added.
Watch the full interview with Hughes on iFollow PNE now by clicking on the video above.