The amount of game he has missed this season have not been not helped by a misdiagnosis with Hughes adding: "It is just one of those things. "I was out with a back injury earlier in the season and then I had an Achilles problem which we thought would improve after an injection. But it turned out to be the wrong diagnosis and they found that I had a partial tear of the tendon which is susceptible to rupture.
"So the only form of treatment was to rest it and let nature take its course, which obviously takes time. The manager has been brilliant, to be fair, and allowed me to have that time to recover and hopefully this is the end of it. "I started running last week and hope to join in with the lads in the coming weeks and maybe even get a reserve game in.
"But I don't want to put a timescale on it yet. The main thing is that I am running pain free and feel confident about making a comeback. I can't afford to rush it but it would be nice to think I might get a few games in before the end of the season, although I have had a lot of time off and need to do quite a bit of fitness work."