It was so typical of fans’ favourite Hughes to do it with a flourish and, when the opportunity arose, from an Eric Cantona cross, he did not stand on ceremony.
Moving his body into shape, the expert volleyer produced an explosive finish past Martyn, ignoring the appeals of the defenders, to really get the party started among the away supporters.
“I did think I was offside,” Sparky admitted, when I spoke to him about this magical moment. “Thankfully, it wasn’t. If there was VAR, it could have been ruled out but it still had to be executed and scored.
“It was my favourite way of connecting with the ball, rather than heading it in or passing it in. It was good to see it go in. That was just how I trained. More often than not, before a game, I was out there, left and right, practising. I could try to get my head on it but used to wait until it dropped on my foot.
“It was what I felt more comfortable with, that skill was more easy for me. When the ball came over in a game, it was just replicating what I was doing in training.”
