SHOULD team director Eddie Howe require any inside info on Cherries’ Italian job, he need look no farther than crew member Richard Hughes.

The midfielder will be hoping to feature when Cherries visit Watford tomorrow – with the Hornets set to include in their squad a number of players from sister club Udinese.

For their Championship opener at Birmingham six days ago, Watford’s Italian boss Gianfranco Zola named nine players with links with Udinese and three from Spanish outfit Granada. The three clubs are all owned by the Pozzo family.

Glasgow-born Hughes spent his formative years living in Milan and playing for Atalanta, and has also worked as a summariser for ESPN, covering Serie A games.

Now in his second season with Cherries after coming out of retirement to return to the club, the 34-year-old was on Atalanta’s books between the ages of 11 and 18 before joining Arsenal.

Hughes, who is fluent in Italian, told the Daily Echo: “The Italian League is one I follow closely and Udinese have got one of the best scouting networks in the world.

“I am led to believe they have an area at their ground designated to scout literally every game from all over the world and they don’t miss a trick.

“They have always come up with some gems and the Chilean striker Alexis Sanchez is probably the biggest example. He went under the radar of a few of the bigger clubs, which is rare these days, before joining Barcelona from Udinese.

“With their links with Udinese, Watford can benefit, as they did last season. They started with virtually no team and created one which was unfortunate not to win promotion to the Premier League.

“They are getting a good calibre of player, not necessarily household names to us, but you can bet your bottom dollar that they are going to be good because of their pedigree and from where they have been scouted.

“Not too many people had heard of Matej Vydra at the start of last season but, a couple of months in, the whole country was talking about him. He scored lots of goals for Watford and was the Championship player of the year.

“I am sure there will be more to follow throughout the course of the season and Watford have still got a few players from last season. They are again going to be one of the best teams in the league.”

Asked how Italian clubs coached their players, Hughes replied: “To be very patient. They get them passing the ball from back to front and they work their opportunities. In Italian football, you have difference-makers in every team.

“The forwards and wide players tend to be people that will hurt you and the rest are all very good on the ball.

"Marco Cassetti played in midfield for Roma and I believe he played sweeper in a back three for Watford last season and was outstanding. That is the type of footballer they produce.

“They expect to make the running, dominate possession and play at their tempo. They bide their time and wait for opportunities.

“I haven’t seen enough of Watford this season to see how close they are to playing like an Italian team. But from what I saw last season, that was the way they played. It was very good football, very patient and with players who hurt teams.”

Hughes added: “Our manager always has good game plans for such occasions. We played MK Dons last season and they were a very good footballing team. But we had a good game plan, both on and off the ball.

“Our shape was good, we were patient and we didn’t dive into areas we shouldn’t have.

“If you over-commit in certain areas, good players will pass around you and, before you know it, they are at your defence.

“It is important to be disciplined and patient and, like with most away games, counter-attack is a key form of how you approach the game. We will be well prepared.”