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The City winger played 90 minutes for his country in their goalless draw with Italy last Saturday, his first full game since picking up a hamstring injury away to FC Midtjylland in late August.
“We were a little bit concerned that that would happen,” says Hughes, “when good players go away invariably the international managers want them to play the whole game because they know they can make an impact.
“With Martin’s situation, he has only had about 20 minutes in four or five weeks, so that was a concern. Obviously he’s very proud to play for his country, and we’re not going to try to stop him going because in the end it will benefit us.
“Thankfully he came through 90 minutes, which means he will be in better shape for the games when he comes back.”
As many as 12 other Blues could be in action across the globe tonight, and Joe Hart has joined the full England squad to taste some big game experience in Minsk after helping Stuart Pearce’s Under 21 side reach next summer’s European Championships last night.
With so many of his squad away, Hughes must play the waiting game, but it is something he is philosophical about.
“That’s the lot of the club manager in international week, you just hope that they all come back fit & well,” he continues. “By all accounts everybody came through Saturday’s games OK, a number of the guys played full games, which is always a worry.
“Two 90 minute games in quick succession is quite a hard schedule on top of the travelling as well, but we hope they will all come back alright. It’s maybe a little bit easier in that we play on Monday, so we have a couple of days extra rest, which will be valuable for us.”
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