Hughes made a premature exit from United's tour of southern Ireland on Friday to be with his wife as they prepare for the birth of their first child, and the midfielder will strike a fine balance between home life and work commitments in the weeks to come as he adapts to a new and welcome arrival.

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Leeds were happy to sanction his departure from Eire after only one game of their three-match tour, but Hughes took it upon himself to minimise the impact on his fitness by playing for 90 minutes with United's reserves at Farsley Celtic last night.

The 30-year-old will rejoin Gary McAllister's senior squad at Barnet on Saturday – baby permitting – and renew his efforts to regain the starting place which eluded him during the run-in to the League One play-off final last season.

Hughes made a total of 40 league appearances during a memorable first year with Leeds, but he became trapped in a substitute's role after incurring a two-match suspension at Port Vale midway through March.

The clamour for places has increased in volume during the close season with the signing of Andy Robinson taking the number of players realistically in contention for midfield positions to eight, and McAllister's most important call before the first league match at Scunthorpe United will be to decide on the structure and make-up of his central rank.

Hughes said: "We've got a hell of a lot of midfielders here and it won't be easy to please everyone.

"In a squad as competitive as ours, a few people are bound to be disappointed.

"I'm hoping I won't be one of them but I don't want to get distracted by thinking too much about what might happen in a couple of weeks' time.

"When it comes to the crunch, the manager will pick the four guys who have impressed him most in pre-season, and you can't play for a club like Leeds and complain about the fact that you have to earn your place.

"I didn't like being out of the team last season and to say I was disappointed not to start the play-off final would be a complete understatement.

"But that was a personal frustration for me because at that time our results were good and the other lads were doing well.

"I'd have been out-of-order saying that someone should have been dropped to let me back in. That wouldn't have been fair.

"It's important for players to realise and accept that a manager's job involves making tough decisions. You also have to accept that the decisions they make are in the best interests of the club.

"No player is bigger than Leeds and if you're named on the bench you take it on the chin. Otherwise you shouldn't be here.

"I've always said that I'll play in any position where I'm needed, and that won't change.