Aaron Hughes still has burning ambitions for club and country.

But he admits his thoughts have turned to what direction he takes once his playing days are over.

Hughes, 35 earlier this month, has started four of Albion's 18 Championship outings since arriving from a short spell with Queens Park Rangers in the summer as the defensive replacement for the similarly experienced Matt Upson.

The latest was in last Saturday's 3-3 draw at Norwich, when he deputised at centre-half for the suspended Lewis Dunk.

Dunk is available again tomorrow, so Hughes is likely to be back on the bench for the visit of Fulham, where he spent six-and-a-half years in the Premier League before joining QPR in January.

He remains at the heart of Northern Ireland's challenge to qualify for the 2016 Euro finals and is on course for a Wayne Rooney for his country - a century of appearances - during the qualifying process.

Hughes, signed on a one-year contract by Albion, is also aiming to make the most of his spell at the Amex and the latter stages of his club career before old father time catches up with him.

The veteran of over 450 Premier League appearances for Newcastle, Aston Villa and Fulham, said of his future ambitions: "The obvious one, on the international front, is to make the Euros.

"That's a big goal and hopefully in doing that along the way I'll get the 100 caps. That would be a nice thing to do.

"In terms of club career, I don't know how many years I have got left and it's really just enjoying making the most of what I have got left.

"I came here to a team that was hopeful of pushing up and getting promotion and that's still very much a goal, to be part of a team that's successful and pushing up the league."

Hughes, with such a wealth of top level experience, seems an obvious candidate to stay in the game in a coaching or managerial capacity.

He is keeping an open mind about what lies in store for him when he eventually hangs up his boots.

"Obviously, it creeps up," he said. "Not only do I think about it myself but I get asked about it now and again. There's nothing definite."