Hughes proud of players

Mark Hughes struggled to pick fault with his Manchester City squad following their exit from the Uefa Cup. The Blues crashed out of Europe on Thursday despite a gallant effort against German side Hamburg.A 2-1 win at Eastlands saw them come agonisingly close to forcing extra-time, but their failings in the first leg of the quarter-final encounter saw them slip to a 4-3 aggregate defeat.Hughes, though, was happy with the effort displayed by his side as they sought to claw their way back into a contest which had appeared to have passed them by."It was a big night for everyone at the club for obvious reasons. We needed to make a statement and I think we did that with the level of our performance," he said."It was important we came out and showed people there are things happening here and we have ability."When in the future we are able to produce it on a regular basis we will be a very difficult side to overcome. It is the beginning of a long journey."City fell behind to a 12th minute effort from Paolo Guerrero, as they made the worst possible start, but hit back through an Elano penalty (16) and a second half effort from Felipe Caicedo (50)."It was a really poor start but we did not let that affect us. We picked ourselves up and got back on level terms very quickly," added Hughes.Special"There was a real sense that we were trying to make something special happen and we almost achieved that goal. But unfortunately we did not get that break when we needed it."We took the game to Hamburg and it was a great effort by everyone. No-one gave us any chance of turning the tie around. We came very close."The sending off (of Richard Dunne on 75 minutes) hampered us but we still kept asking questions of the opposition."They are a good side but struggled to stay in the game. That shows what we have been able to produce."Hamburg boss Martin Jol was relieved to have secured a safe passage through to the semi-finals, but the former Tottenham coach felt his side were deserving of their success over the course of the two legs.He said: "We started off very well and the goal helped a lot. Then we had a penalty given against us, which was a bit harsh."We knew if they got another goal it would be exciting again and that is what happened."But they did not score a third and that was great. I think over two legs we were the better side."

Source: SKY_Sports