Hughes believes the guarantee of European football is essential if the club are to attract the quality of player he wants at the club.

Hughes told the club's official website: "We hope to have a very good run in Europe if we can, that is so important for us to keep building as a club and to have recognition in Europe, so that will be a priority.

"The squad will have to have the resources to cope with the demands that will be placed upon it, you need depth to your squad, but it has got to be depth with quality.

valid decision

"I need to have a real look at what's here, the balance of the squad. Maybe some positions are overloaded, others might be a bit weaker. It's a case of looking at the squad, making sure it's as balanced as it can be and maybe supplementing it with some more good players."

"The squad is strong but it's early days yet. I have not had the opportunity to work with the players so far, I'll need to see them train to work out what they are good at and what they are weak at, and then make a valid decision on where we need to go on the quality of what we have here."

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