HUGHES: FOXES TO HEAL GIVEN TIME..

MARK HUGHES has relived his harrowing experience of Chelsea supremo Matthew Harding’s death in a helicopter crash to tell Leicester’s heartbroken players: “In time you will heal.”

Hughes knows exactly what the Foxes stars are going through.

He played in Chelsea’s 3-1 win over Tottenham, the Blues first game after vice-chairman Harding (above) was killed after a League Cup defeat at Bolton in 1996.

The Southampton manager said: “I remember Matthew Harding was a big part of what Chelsea were trying to do when I was there. We lost him in similar circumstances to what has happened at Leicester and it does affect the club.

“You have to get on with your football and deal with tragedy and change.

“Everybody will at some point heal in their own time. And everybody understands at some point you must move on.

“As players, we wanted to do well for the memory of Matthew Harding and that is how we approached it.

“It was difficult. There were things before the game that the team had to go through, laying wreaths on the pitch and in the penalty areas.

“Before a game that can affect you – but in the end you want to play well for the guy himself.”