Hughes not out for City revenge
Queens Park Rangers manager Mark Hughes insists revenge will be the last thing on his mind as his relegation-threatened side attempt to wreck Manchester City's title party on Sunday.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: May 12, 2012 01:24 PM IST
Queens Park Rangers manager Mark Hughes insists revenge will be the last thing on his mind as his relegation-threatened side attempt to wreck Manchester City's title party on Sunday.
Hughes parted company with City in acrimonious circumstances in December 2009, with many believing the Welshman had been treated shoddily by the club before Roberto Mancini took over soon afterwards.
Now a quirk of fixture scheduling has given Hughes the opportunity to thwart City's attempt to win their first title since 1968, while QPR are desperate for a positive result to help them avoid relegation.
But Hughes told reporters on Friday that he remains solely motivated by the need to help QPR beat the drop, rather than ruining City's title dream.
"I am not at all surprised it has come to this, given the way the season has panned out from our point of view and many other clubs'," said the Welshman, a former striker for City's derby rivals, Manchester United.
"There have been so many ups and downs, twists and turns -- it has been quite remarkable. Here we are now with so many issues on the last day of the season still to be resolved. It is going to be an exciting weekend.
"People keep throwing that word (revenge) up but it is not in my mind at all. From my point of view, I am completely focused on what we have to do, as you would expect."
Meanwhile, Hughes acknowledged that Rangers would need to buck a dreadful away record if they were to frustrate City.
"Our away form is probably the worst in the Premier League and that doesn't bode well for our prospects of getting something out of the game, but it is a one-off game," he said.
"It is a huge game for Manchester City, make no bones about it."