MARK Hughes reckons David Dunn is close to rediscovering the form that made him one of the Premiership's brightest young stars during his first spell with Blackburn Rovers.

The 27-year-old has taken time to find his feet again after sealing a dream return to Rovers from Birmingham City during the January transfer window.

However, Hughes saw clear signs of the Dunn of old during a lively cameo appearance against Arsenal in midweek, when he laid on a dramatic late winner for Benni McCarthy with an astute pass.

And now the Ewood chief hopes his twinkle-toed midfielder can have a big impact on the rest of Rovers' season - starting at the Reebok tomorrow, where a hot reception lies in wait.

Had Hughes delayed his move for Dunn by a further 10 minutes, he could well have been lining up for Bolton Wanderers AGAINST Rovers this weekend.

The player was sat in his Bolton training kit, in an office across the road from the Reebok, about to shake hands on a contract with Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce, when the call came through to say that Birmingham had accepted a belated offer from Blackburn.

From that point on, Dunn had his heart set on a move back home', much to Allardyce's frustration because, like Hughes, he believed he could re-ignite his career and launch him on the path towards a possible England recall.

"I can understand Bolton's frustration because no-one likes to miss out on good players," said Hughes.

"But I think everyone at Bolton, the public included, understood that Blackburn was always his first choice.

"He needed to get away from Birmingham, and back up north again, because of the situation with his child, and his preferred choice was always Blackburn.

"He also had to make sure he was covered in the respect that he had other options.

"But as soon as we made our interest known, he was always going to come to us and in fairness, he said that at the outset of his discussions with Bolton, so they were well aware of that."

Dunn has endured a torrid time, on and off the pitch, since his first spell with Rovers came to an abrupt end in the summer of 2003.

A succession of injury problems meant he never fulfilled his true potential at Birmingham, where he was restricted to just 53 starts in three and a half years.

But Hughes has always been one of Dunn's biggest admirers, so when Birmingham made it clear they were prepared to sell him in the window, he made his swoop, believing he could restore the player to his former glory.

"This is his club and he wants to be a successful player here," said the Rovers chief.

"He had a decent amount of success here when he first broke through.

"We feel it's a different club now, but he's very much of the mind that he wants to be successful here again, and achieve everything that he wants to do in the game, which is obviously to get back into the international fold and be an international player again.

"I said when we got him, it was going to be a slow process because he hadn't had a great deal of football, so we didn't want to throw him in and put too many demands on him too soon, before he was physically able to cope with those demands.

"But he's getting close, he's strong in training, he hasn't missed any training sessions since he's been here, so he's getting that base of physical strength that he needs."