It's not just the Academy players. Hughes also picks out 19-year-old Matheus Franca, who arrived from Flamengo in his native Brazil without speaking a word of English this summer. "His English has come on brilliantly. He has come on leaps and bounds since he first came, and that has only been a short period of time."

Hughes surpassed 50 Crystal Palace appearances this season, but knows that competition for places is higher than ever with the arrival of Cheick Doucoure and Jefferson Lerma over the past two summers - additions which he says, despite overcoming the language barriers, will drive things forwards in the midfield department.

"The standard is really high, and I think that is the best way to be," he says. "You don't want to be in a team where you are starting and there are only two or three midfielders.

"You would get complacent, so we keep each other on our toes and if one is not performing we know that the other man is going to come in and take your place, so it keeps the standards high in matches and in training.

"Jefferson is brilliant. He is a warrior, a fighter. What you see in the matches we also see in training. He wants to win. He is very competitive and a brilliant addition.

"Even if English isn't your strongest language, you learn words that you would use on the pitch and it comes quite naturally. Off the pitch, you learn to know what they are saying through various ways of communicating.

"I am my own player. You have to adapt your game on occasion but at the same time you have to realise why you are in the team and play your own game as well. Each of us has got our own qualities, and when we are playing with each other it blends together, so it is nice."