During their four-year partnership at Blackburn Rovers, City’s new management team gave Rovers a hard-nosed and hard working ethic that propelled them to two FA Cup semi-finals and two consecutive UEFA Cup campaigns.
Having seen Hughes at close quarters during his international playing career and from their time at Ewood Park, Bowen is well placed to comment on his methods and he says:
“It all comes from the manager and the way he played throughout his career. Everyone knows about his time at United, but he played for Everton, Chelsea and abroad in his time. He always had that desire and the will to win.
“Looking at ourselves, if we want to perform we have to be physically up to the challenge. In the four years that we were at Blackburn we were very proud of the fact that we were regarded as possibly the fittest team in the Premier League.
“If you have that base to work from, you are giving the players a fantastic base for them to go out and express themselves. But before that, they have got to be up to the challenge physically.”
