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Alexander relishing duo return

Image: Graham Alexander: Duo will add experience to midfield

Graham Alexander knows Fleetwood's midfield will get an injection of experience with Keith Southern and Jeff Hughes imminent comebacks.

The Cod Army have been without 29-year-old Hughes since January, when he broke his leg in a game against Hartlepool, while Southern, one year Hughes' senior, is yet to make his Fleetwood debut due to a hernia problem. The duo have nearly 700 league appearances between them and will give Alexander's team, who are playing in the third tier for the first time in their history, plenty of nous in the middle of the park. Both summer signing Southern and Hughes again featured in a development game last week, yet their returns will not be hastened. "Jeff's probably a little bit further ahead than Keith," Alexander explained. "We've seen a big improvement in his fitness levels and the way he's actually moving. "When he came back there was a slight occurrence in his running and that was due to his injury but he's played a lot of games, he's trained a long time and he's just champing at the bit to get back involved. "It's good because you have two very experienced, very high-quality midfield players to come back into the squad. "We're really pleased with their progress. It's been a long time - especially with Jeff - but as soon as he's back up to 100 per cent, which he's not far off, we know we've got a very good player to add back into our squad." The Fleetwood boss appreciates the need for both players to play plenty of development games to get used to the rigours of competitive football. He explained: "You can do all the controlled running and movements with physios but it's the games that put you out of balance. "You don't know what you're going to be doing within the next two seconds because you have to react to the ball and react to the game, that's when you stop thinking about your previous injuries and you start thinking about the ball, and your body relaxes and you do all your natural movements. "Jeff's just got through that stage in the last couple of weeks. It's good to see because we know of his qualities from all the games he played last season and it's been a long time. "It's been longer than we first envisaged and longer than Jeff first thought as well. Hopefully he'll be back out on the pitch where he should be as soon as (possible)." Regarding former Blackpool stalwart Southern, Alexander added: "We see him in those games, we see him in training and we know the way we want to play. "For him to get into that team he has to be at the required fitness stakes. I think he's a little bit short of that at the moment. "It's not through him slacking off or not training properly, it's just a matter of time; it's just getting through that process of playing games and pushing himself in those games, which he will because that's the type of character he is. "As soon as he's available to compete he comes into our minds for selection. But I don't feel he's quite at that stage yet. As soon as he is he'll get that opportunity." Breaking news, transfer gossip, line ups and goal alerts from your football club - delivered direct to your mobile. Sign up for Sky Sports Alerts

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