Adelaide United recruit Adam Hughes believes a busier Hyundai A-League schedule would benefit players and the competition in future seasons.
While most United players will be looking forward to a lighter load after back-to-back domestic and Asian Champions League campaigns, Hughes is keen to take to the pitch as much as he can.
The 26-year-old has been playing in Ireland’s Premier League over the past three years and is used to a more continuous workload – at Drogheda United the pre-season was just 4-6 weeks in length.
“It’s better, better for a player. If you look at the English players, what they are playing … They don’t stop all year round, they just continue doing it,” Hughes said.
“They might get a week here a week there but once you can adapt your body to be playing 40, 50, 60 games a season you become accustomed to it and it’s enjoyable.
“The more games we can play the better it is for yourself because you keep yourself in good nick and it’s so much easier to get back into it if you have a small break at the end of the year.”
Hughes thinks a longer season could be an important development for the A-League.
“I do think the league needs to grow a little bit more with more games coming into it and I think a cup competition would do well in the country as well just to create a few more games into the calendar so it’s a longer season for the players,” he said.
Despite his hunger for competition, Hughes has yet to play a trial game with the Reds this pre-season. A minor quad strain set his preparation back a couple of weeks and now he’s making sure he has a strong fitness base before he takes to the pitch.
When he does make his debut, Hughes is keen to follow in the footsteps of team-mates Paul Reid and Scott Jamieson who were selected in Socceroos squads in their first season with the Reds.
The midfielder said his desire to play for his country played some part in his return to Australia.
“(In Australia) You are always in the manager’s eye with Pim – it’s well documented that he travels around to most of the games,” he said.
“If you can be a successful team doing well there’s every chance of being selected in a local-based team and anything can happen from there.”
