The Rovers boss admitted that the January transfer window signing had been nursed back into action after a series of long lay offs and that the benefits of this were now being rewarded.
"David looked strong towards the end [against Bolton] and that was reassuring because you might expect his energy levels to drop. But we have done it in the correct way with David," said Hughes.
"We were conscious that we didn't want to give him too many games too quickly.
"We exposed him to it then we took him back out, but now I think he looks stronger every time he plays."