After signing a new deal at Preston North End, Andrew Hughes said he believes he and his team-mates can achieve success during his time at Deepdale.
The defender has penned a new contract until 2024, and with the recent appointment of manager Ryan Lowe coupled with the quality in the squad, Hughesy is confident the club can push towards the top end of the Championship table.
Speaking to iFollow after signing the new deal, he said: “I’m over the moon. I’m delighted to get it done, in the end it’s been an easy decision.
“I feel really settled here. I love the place, I love the club, I love everything about it so it was my main priority to stay at Preston.
“There was not once where I ever really wanted to leave, it was just making sure things were right for myself and the club, and I’m grateful that we’ve managed to get it done.”
PNE currently sit 14th in the Championship table and following back-to-back wins there is a positive mood in the camp right now.
Hughesy puts a lot of that down to the way the new manager has come into the building and instilled confidence into the group.
He said: “I think the gaffer is trying to get the belief back in amongst the squad that we are good enough to compete at the top end of the table and I think he’s doing that.
“We’re not far off, string a few wins together and you’ll find yourselves up there so I think that’s the aim now.
“You look at the teams that are always up there and they’re always believing that they’re going to be in and around it, so we’ve got to put ourselves in that bracket because we’ve got the players to do it. It’s just we’ve got to go and do it.”
Since his arrival three and a half years ago, Hughes has racked up 122 appearances in a North End shirt, and he picked out a few memorable moments during that time.
“There’s a bittersweet one,” he admitted. “The first time I ended up being captain against Wycombe, although we did lose the game, that was a really proud moment for myself.
“I’ll never forget the day that I did sign for this club. I’ve had some great times and there’s been some down times as well, but hopefully going forward now there’s a lot more ups than there is downs.”
One of the more recent good days was Monday's victory away to Stoke City, where Hughesy ended up being the match-winner, with his header completing the turnaround at the bet365 Stadium.
📽️ Every angle of @MrAndrewHughes' winning goal! 💥
— Preston North End FC (@pnefc) January 4, 2022
Extended highlights on iFollow PNE ➡️ https://t.co/I8X388XJ5p#pnefc pic.twitter.com/YhGkE5AO55
"I really enjoyed it," he smiled. "It’s not often I get to score so I felt like I’ve got to make the most of that one, but I think I’m more happy with the three points to be honest.
"It couldn’t have come at a better time. Going without a game for a long time and then putting in that performance at Stoke, I thought we played really well as a team."
Watch Hughesy's full interview on iFollow PNE at the top of the page.