JOHN HUGHES is confident he can get the best out of new signing Liam Polworth but admitted the departure of Owain Fôn Williams left him “very emotional”.
Monday proved to be a busy day at East End, with the first piece of news being to announce that popular Welsh goalkeeper Fôn Williams’ contract was cancelled by mutual agreement due to family reasons.
That was followed swiftly by the arrival of 27-year-old Kilmarnock midfielder Polworth – who Hughes worked with previously at Inverness Caledonian Thistle – on a temporary deal until the end of the season ahead of the close of the loan transfer window for clubs outwith the top flight.
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On Tuesday, it was also confirmed that former Scotland goalkeeper Neil Alexander, has been brought in until the end of the season to take up the coaching role vacated by Fôn Williams, and has also been registered as a player as injury cover.
Speaking about Fôn Williams, 34, Hughes revealed: “That was very, very emotional on Monday, to tell you the truth.
“Once again, I can’t speak highly enough of Fonners. It was me that brought him to Scotland, when I was up at Inverness, and I’d been talking to him over the last couple of weeks.
“Obviously, he’s made his mind up.
“It’s personal reasons and, when we announced it to the players on Monday, there was a lump in my throat.
“He got a standing ovation, a round of applause, and you could see the emotion in Fonners. We totally understand it.
“There’s no point in going into it but we can only wish him all the best. He knows where we are.”
On Polworth’s arrival, Hughes said it was a signing he had been working on “as soon as the window opened” in January, and he is thrilled to finally get it over the line.
"We were always keeping our eye on it and we were saying to ourselves this might not be able to get done because we still have to look after the rest of the team," Hughes continued.
"We were still trying to do business elsewhere and we are just grateful that eventually it got done.
"We are thankful to Kilmarnock that they have let it happen, they've let him go and play football. We have a right good footballer. He has got goals in him; he can play in four or five positions anywhere across that midfield; he can come in off the sides; he can play a number ten; he can play a sitting midfielder.
"He is a Scotland under-21 international. I've already spoken to him, and if we get him back to that kind of form that he showed when he first went to Motherwell, when there was talk of him getting a full call up into the Scotland squad, we have knocked it off.
"It is all down to him. It is alright talking about it, but you have to put in place the hard work, the desire, the commitment to go and be the player you want to be. It doesn’t just happen - you have to make it happen.
"There is real competition for places so we have to get him up to speed and he is going to have to knock that door down to get in there."
Hughes added: "There is no doubting his football ability and his passing range. He is a great passer and he has got a goal in him.
"I feel that he has reached nowhere near his potential. As a coach and a manager I have always seen that potential, and sometimes guys go to clubs or work with managers where it just doesn’t work out, that happens.
"I think that I can get the best out of Liam Polworth and if I do that there is only one team benefiting and that is Dunfermline.
"In terms of being a real good footballer and knowing the game, he's a very intelligent boy, Liam. He's got a wide range of attributes - great dead balls, a good crosser, a good finisher, scores goals, great range of passing and, if his fitness levels are where we are hoping that they are, he gets about the pitch as well."
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