Hughton's View: Club Brugge (a)

Last updated : 21 October 2011 By Brian Cartlidge

The Blues defender was knocked-out 83 minutes into the Europa League Group game in Belgium but Hughton has revealed that he had not suffered any real damage from the clash of heads with Brugge goalscorer Joseph Akpala.

"Pablo was a real concern for us so we're very happy it was just concussion and he's okay," the Blues boss said after the game.

"We feared the worst, as you always do with incidents like that when it is always a real concern. But fortunately, it usually works out okay and thankfully it did today.

"We're delighted for him. He had a very good game and also thinks he scored the winner!

"It is as big for us as the win. It's always a difficult moment.

"But we're very relieved he's okay and that comes before football.

"We've had two results. One is the scoreline and the other is the fact he is okay. It showed great professionalism to do what we did after a stoppage of six minutes.

"It was a vulnerable time for us with the long stoppage and when you know there are 10 minutes of added time it's always a massive lift for the home team.

"At 1-1 I would have been quite happy but we've got a group of lads who felt they could get more and they drove through to the end to get the win."