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Manchester City vs Blackburn
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Mark Hughes faces his old club Blackburn today admitting he would have left them even if Manchester City had not wanted him.
Hughes spent four years at Blackburn, during which he turned them from relegation candidates into a credible Premier League force before leaving for City last summer.
But Hughes revealed he felt he had taken Blackburn as far as he could and had made up his mind to leave before he was offered the City job.
"I really enjoyed my time at Blackburn," said Hughes.
"It's a fantastic club with great people. But there was a limit to how far they could go. In fairness though, I thought they would be fine this year.
"But with Brad Friedel out of contract and with Roque Santa Cruz having the option to leave at the end of the season, I thought it would be hard to strengthen and keep progressing.
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"So I knew that the end of last season was probably the right time to leave, because I'd left them in good shape." Hughes is saddened by Blackburn's struggles this season but will not let sentiment cloud his desire to see City finish strongly and possibly grab a European place.
"It's been a tough season for Blackburn because they were an established top-10 club when I left them last year," said Hughes. "But they haven't been able to hit those heights this season. I know Blackburn very well and they can't afford to go out of the Premier League.
"It would be disastrous for them and they will feel they still need points to make sure they're safe, so they will be difficult opponents.
"We've talked about seventh spot for some time and that's our focus now and we fully anticipate we'll have a good finish."
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