The midfielder played the first hour of a decent run-out in Palace’s final match of pre-season in sweltering conditions, with Daichi Kamada’s second-half goal preserving the Eagles’ unbeaten record in 2024/25 thus far.
Speaking to Palace TV – and fending off Guéhi, as you can see in the video player below – Hughes smiled: “I thought it was a good run out against a good team, a solid team that played a brand of football that we've not probably played against this pre-season, so I think it was good.
“Everyone got a run out as well, which is always good in pre-season, so I think we're ready for next week.
“I'm feeling good. With the midfielders we had, we had Adam [Wharton] away with England, Jefferson [Lerma] away at the Copa America, Checkie [Doucouré] has come back from injury, so we were light in numbers in midfield.
“But we've got such a strong midfield now. Everyone's vying for places, which makes it even stronger, so we're looking forward to it.”