Bradford City v Blackburn Rovers: Carabao Cup tie against former employers sparks fond memories for Mark Hughes

Hughes’s Bradford City welcome Rovers for a League Cup second round tie at Valley Parade this evening.

This is their second tie against Championship opposition and Blackburn have already shown they can knuckle down against a League Two side but for Hughes – not to mention many of his players – tonight’s opposition give the game extra resonance.

He closed the book on his playing career at Blackburn, winning the League Cup there 20 years ago. For a serial silverware collector, the biggest significance of that day to him is it was the last game he started and finished as a professional.

Two years later Blackburn offered him his start in club management.

Hughes believes his part in a trophy-winning team – one of only two Blackburn have had since World War Two – counts for something with supporters.

“If you’re part of a successful team it’s always remembered,” he argues. “I actually got an invite to a dinner to celebrate that cup victory. I’m not sure I can go but it would be nice to see the guys.

“There must be that empathy with teams that have done well for your club or they wouldn’t be able to sell a dinner on the back of a team 20 years ago! It shows people still value your commitment and your contribution fondly. That’s always nice.”

The 2002 final was a bit of a bonus for Hughes.

“I had two years there, a great first year and promotion,” he recalls. “We had good young players coming through like Damien Duff. When I couldn’t run too much I made sure I had lots of good players around me who could run around a bit!

“They were my last full 90 minutes as a professional footballer so I’ve got quite good memories – we won, thankfully. We played well on the day against a good Tottenham side who were favourites.

“I was probably about sixth choice to play in midfield but we had suspensions and injuries so they were scratching their heads about who to play and I think Dean Saunders, a fellow Welshman on the (coaching) staff, said, ‘You should play Mark, that’s where he plays for Wales,’ which I did – not when I was 38, like!

“I knew what was required it was just whether my legs would keep going but it worked out okay so I was thankful for Deano’s input.”

Hughes also fondly remembers his four years as manager.

“They embraced everything I asked them to do,” he says. “We had four great years – a couple of FA Cup semi-finals, a League Cup semi-final, we qualified for Europe by virtue of sixth place in the Premier League (in 2006) and apart from one year (his first) I don’t think we were ever out of the top ten.

“A lot of people I was working with then have left – unfortunately for the club in  my view – but times change and it’s a different ownership now.

“I really enjoyed it – a well-run club. Not too many years previously they’d won the Premier League so a lot of the facilities were absolutely first class.”

Matty Platt, Yann Songo’o, Richie Smallwood and Harrison Chapman also wore the blue-and-white halves. Despite not training yesterday, Levi Sutton is back after missing Saturday’s win at Hartlepool United for the birth of his first child. Having got his fingers burnt in his first League Cup tie at Blackburn, Hughes is likely to resist wholesale changes but either way he sees no reason to rest 31-year-old Andy Cook after five goals already this season.

“You probably just want to keep him going,” said the former centre-forward. “Scoring goals is important for some guys. I never scored a huge amount of goals and when I did it invariably became sequences – four or five in six games, something like that -–but the important thing is if you don’t score you contribute and Andy always does.

“Last season he got really down on himself, which he needn’t have, he was just conscious he hadn’t scored. That probably affected his form a little bit but now he’s very confident and when Andy’s confident he plays better.”

Last six games: Bradford City WLWDWW; Blackburn Rovers LLWWWW

Referee: R Joyce (Teesside)

Last time: Bradford City 0 Blackburn Rovers 1, August 19, 2017, League One.