Hughes in a ‘thumbs-up’ mood as pre-season gathers pace at King’s Lynn Town

The thumbs up said it all – Rob Hughes was feeling fresh and happy to be back with his King's Lynn Town team-mates.

The 25-year-old central midfielder found time to pose for the camera during one of many laps he endured around King Edward VII School's running track on Saturday.

And even though he looked less cheerful later on after covering thousands of metres, Hughes admits he fully enjoyed linking up with his fellow players for their first pre-season session of the summer.

He said: 'It's nice to be back together again. In every interview you read the lads say that we are good mates on and off the pitch and it's true.

'It was nice to see there were no cliques, the new lads settled in, and hopefully we can be one big happy team. I don't think any footballer enjoys coming back to pre-season in one sense, but it's the main part of the season.

'If you have a good one you usually start well and then who knows what you can do from there after Christmas.'

A fitter-looking-than-ever Hughes was one of the stand-out performers as King's Lynn Town FC became King's Lynn Running Club for the day, a point not lost on the confident playmaker.

Hughes said: 'I've enjoyed myself and had a break, but I've done a lot of extra running this summer as I've got a holiday later on this year.

'I wanted to make sure I came back in good shape so when I do go away I'm not too far behind the lads.

'Hopefully the gaffer saw I'd looked after myself and come back in a bit of good shape.

'We've all looked after ourselves and it was nice to see that nobody really struggled.'