Blackburn stronger than ever, says Hughes
Hughes believes Rovers are at their strongest for several years
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Wednesday, 01, Aug 2007 03:39
Blackburn Rovers manager Mark Hughes has said he believes his current squad is the strongest it has been since he arrived at the club.
The former Manchester United and Chelsea forward, who went into club management in 2004 after a five-year stint in charge of the Welsh national team, believes that his most recent signing – Roque Santa Cruz – has pulled the club on to a new level in terms of quality.
Paraguayan Santa Cruz was signed from Bayern Munich over the weekend for a fee of £3.3 million and Hughes was quick to point out that he was there to supplement his existing strikers, rather than pave the way for one or more to leave.
"It isn't a case of Roque coming in to replace anybody else, he is here to compliment the very good players that I already have," Hughes told the Blackburn website.
"I think it is really important that people understand what we are trying to do here. We are trying to move the club forward, team-wise I'm always looking to improve the squad and to bring quality into the squad and certainly that is what I feel that I've done with the acquisition of Roque."
Hughes also said he is targeting an improved performance from his side this season, despite the fact that they finished high enough in the table to qualify for European football this year.
"The quality of the group is a lot greater," he continued.
"The ability that runs through the squad is at a level now that I think will allow us to compete very comfortably in the Premier League, whereas maybe in the last couple of years that wasn't always the case and it was always somewhat of a struggle.
"This year I feel the squad is as strong as it has ever been since I've been here, and with the addition of Roque it only makes it more strong."