Andrew Hughes made his first return to Peterborough United on Saturday afternoon, playing his part in a 1-0 win for Preston North End.
The Lilywhites travelled down to the Weston Homes Stadium in search of another away day success under Ryan Lowe.
It took a while to come as Preston looked just off their normal game on a difficult pitch, but Cameron Archer’s late winner clinched a 1-0 victory.
Preston’s playoff dream remains alive for now, and one man who may have enjoyed that win more than most was Andrew Hughes.
Hughes started as Preston’s left-sided centre back in a back three, which has become customary this season and especially under Ryan Lowe.
The Welshman has been simply brilliant under Lowe, defending well throughout whilst supporting the attack with marauding runs up the left flank.
Hughes, 29, is playing his best football for Preston and it’s telling that the only game has missed under Lowe was the only league defeat of the Lowe era.
Hughes has now helped Preston keep four clean sheets in a row and five in the last six games, playing a vital role next to Patrick Bauer.
Yet the reason for Saturday’s win being so sweet is because Hughes left Peterborough for Preston in 2018, being sold for around £200,000.
This was Hughes’ first return to Peterborough and to come out as a winner will have felt great for the Welshman.
After selling Hughes to Preston, Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony took to Twitter to claim that Hughes wasn’t even going to be Peterborough’s first-choice left back.
MacAnthony suggested the deal was good business because Hughes would have been benched behind Colin Daniel, who signed for Peterborough that summer.
For context, Daniel lasted just over six months with Peterborough before being flogged to Burton Albion in January 2019.
Hughes has defied MacAnthony’s verdict that Hughes was seemingly easily replaceable at Peterborough, becoming a quality left-sided defender and a vital cog in Ryan Lowe’s side.