MARK Hughes admits he would love to see Blackburn Rovers back in the Premier League as he prepares to bring his Stoke City side to Ewood Park today.

The Potters boss spent four years in charge of Rovers before departing to Manchester City in 2008 having earlier helped the club win promotion and the Worthington Cup during his time as a player. 

And Hughes, who has confirmed he will play a strong team in this afternoon’s FA Cup fifth-round tie, still plays careful attention to goings on in East Lancashire.

“I was a player and a manager there for a good period,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of affection for the club and I was fortunate to have a lot of good people in key positions when I was there.

“If you look at the ground and the training ground, it’s a Premier League club, but it needs to get back to that level again. Hopefully, they will get back in the next few years because it’s a good club with good people.”

Hughes also spoke highly of Rovers boss Gary Bowyer, who was his U18s coach during his time in the Ewood hotseat.

“Gary was there when I was manager," said Hughes. “He was in the Academy doing a good job and there was always the view that he was a good coach.

“Credit to him because his tenure appears to have settled things down.

“It’s not as erratic, if that’s the right word, as it once was and that’s a credit to him and his staff.

“The change of ownership didn’t seem to work, but now it’s settled down and Gary seems to have steadied the ship.

“I wish him well because I had a fantastic time there, both as a player and a manager.”

The FA Cup represents a chance for Stoke to reach their second major final in four years having lost to Manchester City in 2011.

And Hughes is hoping to go one better than he did at Rovers having guided them to the semi-finals in 2007 only to see Morten Gamst Pedersen miss a crucial chance in a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at Old Trafford.

“He was good in the air and you’d want a header to fall to him, but unfortunately he missed it,” he said.

“Those are the fine margins and very quickly Chelsea went up the other end and (Michael) Ballack scored a goal that took the tie away from us.

“We always seemed to get to the latter stages and then one of the big teams would hit us.”