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NEW 'DREAM TEAM' REVEALED AT EASTLEIGH 27/02/2002
Former Southampton and Wales international midfielder David Hughes is ready to make a football comeback as assistant to Eastleigh's manager-in-waiting Paul Doswell.
For years the Jewson Wessex League club has been known as the 'sleeping giant' of local non-League football but, between them, Doswell and 29-year-old Hughes are set to wake it from its slumbers.
The double appointment could mark the start of an exciting era for Eastleigh, who are still awaiting government approval for a major redevelopment of their Ten Acres ground.
Doswell was a striker for AFC Totton and Havant Town and spent the last five years of his playing career back with his first love, Eastleigh, where he helped them into the last eight of the FA Carlsberg Vase during Don Gowans's reign in charge.
Currently Doswell doubles up as manager of the Hampshire senior and under-21 representative sides - posts he will be giving up when he starts a three-year contract at Ten Acres in May.
Hughes now makes his living in the building trade after injury forced him out of the professional game at the tender age of 27 after nearly a decade with Southampton.
The former Weymouth midfielder suffered two broken legs, fractured ribs and major back surgery before calling it a day at The Dell after a fifth operation on a troublesome knee.
Two years ago he was in agony just walking up the stairs, but he has done a lot of hard work in the gym since then and says there is a "flicker of hope" that he might yet don his boots in the Wessex League.
Hughes said: "I'm not putting any pressure on myself. I'm going to Eastleigh as assistant-manager and anything else will be a bonus. But, if the knee responds and I get a bit of luck, I'm hoping I might be able to play once a week."
Caretaker-manager John Diaper will be staying at the first-team helm for the rest of the season and chairman Roger Sherwood is very grateful for his help. He said: "John took over at a difficult time when Trevor Parker resigned in November and has put in a lot of hours steadying the boat. He hasn't had the best of luck because we've been devastated by injuries and unavailabity.
"I'd like to thank him for all he's done and wish him all the best."
For Doswell, getting the Eastleigh job is a dream come true. "It's the job I've always wanted," he said. "Eastleigh's a great club and it deserves the best.
"We plan to make some decent signings and have a side to compete with the top six or eight in the league. If David does start playing again, that would be a £3-4m player in midfield! He's as excited about all this as I am."
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