Neill returns to Ewood Park tomorrow for the first time since his £1.5million switch and can expect a rough reception from the home fans as he seeks to help ignite his new club's unlikely battle to beat the drop.

But Hughes, whose side have shot to within three points of the top six and into the FA Cup semi-finals on the back of four straight wins, insists he has no hard feelings over the circumstances of Neill's exit.

Having responded with a double swoop for former Liverpool youngster Stephen Warnock and promising Congo defender Chris Samba, Hughes now finds himself with an embarrassment of riches in his rearguard.

Hughes said: "I feel we are stronger now than we were before January. Because of the situation we were able to get Stephen in and I have been delighted with his contribution, and we got Chris at the same time.

"Lucas made the decision for his own reasons and he felt the decision to go to West Ham was right for him at the time. We wanted him to stay but we knew his options were open and there was always a possibility he would go."

Rovers fans were livid when the Australian international elected not only to leave the club, but to turn down a move to Champions League-chasing Liverpool in favour of a club in the thick of a relegation dogfight.

But Hughes insists that for all his faults, Neill will not deserve the barracking he is almost certain to receive when he runs back out at Ewood Park wearing claret and blue instead of the blue and white halves.

Hughes added: "In fairness to Lucas, until the day he left he was still pulling on that shirt and trying to do well for Blackburn Rovers, and people should remember that. We have all moved on with our lives."

The move still baffles his former team-mates though. Blackburn defender Zurab Khizanishvili has expressed his surprise over it.

He said: "Everybody knows between Liverpool and West Ham who is the biggest team, who plays Champions League and who is in the top five, so I don't know what happened there.

"I wish him all the best. Lucas is a good player and we know he is captain of West Ham. It was Lucas' decision and that is why he chose West Ham."

One of Hughes' defensive mainstays, New Zealander Ryan Nelsen, is likely to miss out with his nagging hamstring complaint while Aaron Mokoena is suspended, although David Dunn returns from his own ban.

Conceivably victory over the Hammers could be enough to take Rovers as high as seventh in the table tomorrow night, which is testament to the extraordinary recovery Hughes' side have made since being relegation candidates at Christmas.

But to do so Hughes is aware his side must break their embarrassing hoodoo of so far having failed to take a single point of any of the Premiership's bottom three, including a 2-1 defeat at Upton Park in October.

Hughes admitted: "It is a frustration of ours because given the seasons the bottom three have had we would fully expect to pick up points from them and we haven't done that.

"Having said that, West Ham have got guys of individual ability who can change games even if the team is not functioning as well as they would like at the moment. You have always got to be wary of teams like that."