AS soon as Stephen arrived at the Club at the tender age of 16 he was tipped to go all the way to the top. Within his first season he had already made his mark on the manager and was handed his debut against Hearts at Ibrox in May 2000.
Injury stopped the youngster making more first team appearances last season but he was handed full time promotion to the first team in the summer of 2001. Hughes has excelled in every sense of the word and was the sliver lining throughout the injury crisis at the beginning of the 2001/2002 season.
The level headed midfielder has an exciting career ahead of him and has been handed a massive compliment by some youth coaches who feel he is even better than Barry Ferguson was when he was the same age.
Hughes has the ability to get beyond the stikers and also passes the ball very well which makes him a terrific prospect for the years ahead..
Injury prevented him from claiming a place on the bench in last term's Scottish Cup Final but he signed a new five-year deal around that time and will be an important player both now and in the future.
His injury worries appear to finally be behind him and Stevie is determined to smash the successfull Arteta, Ferguson, Ricksen midfield partnership by making it impossible for Alex McLeish not to choose him!
