Hughes makes retirement U-turn

Fulham defender Aaron Hughes has made himself available for new Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill's first squad after reversing his decision to retire from international football.

Hughes, 32, announced his decision to end his international career in September and was denied the chance of a swansong when a groin injury ruled him out of his country's final Euro 2012 qualifiers against Estonia and Italy.

But when O'Neill started work as Nigel Worthington's successor at the turn of the year, he made contacting Hughes - the national captain at the time of his retirement - one of his top priorities.

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