Leicester City defender Sam Hughes has likely played his final game of an “up and down” spell at the club.
The centre-back, signed from non-league Chester in 2017, is out of contract this summer and is not expected to be offered a new deal.
Hughes was superb in his first season at the club as City’s Under-23s narrowly missed out on three pieces of silverware, his form earning him a place on Claude Puel’s bench for the final two games of the 2017-18 campaign.
However, a back injury ruled him out of nearly his whole second season.
This year, he endured a “difficult” loan period at Salford City, starting just four League Two matches before being recalled in January, and then helped City’s Under-23s in their Premier League 2 title charge.
The youngsters’ season is now over, with the Premier League cancelling all youth football. At the curtailment, Steve Beaglehole’s side were three points off top spot with four games to go, having won nine of their previous 11 outings.
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Certainly, there’s been a lot for Hughes to reflect on.
“It’s been nearly three years since I’ve been at Leicester, which is unbelievable when I think back,” Hughes told LCFC TV. “It’s gone so quickly. I remembered the day I signed here.
“It’s been a bit up and down which I suppose every lad’s career will be like at some point.
“This year particularly, I had a difficult loan spell where I had some positives and learned from some negatives.
“But in terms of coming back to the 23s, I was so raring to go when I came back and wanted to get as much game-time as I could. I think I played seven games and in that seven games we were doing really well. We were second in the league and three points off Chelsea.
“I think on the whole the management team and ourselves as players, it’s been a very strong season.”
Hughes’ final game in a City shirt will likely be a 3-1 Premier League 2 victory at Southampton in March, in which he was captain.
It was one of many games that City’s up-and-comers proved they have the right characteristics for senior football.
“As a group of players you need that winning mentality,” added Hughes, who turned 23 during the lockdown. “At the end of the day, the number one thing is to win football matches.
“I feel as a group we always managed to get over the line. I think we last played Southampton away in the league, we went 1-0 down and we won 3-1.
“That’s been a massive thing over the whole time I’ve been here. Even if I relate back to my first year, there were so many games that we’d go behind in but we’d always find a way to come out on top.
“I think that’s massive, especially when you start going into men’s football, you’re competing to either stay in leagues or get promotion, so a winning mentality is massive.”
