Manchester City boss Mark Hughes will learn his side's UEFA Cup fate secure in the knowledge his long-standing coaching team has been installed at Eastlands.

The Blues have confirmed Eddie Niedzwiecki and Kevin Hitchcock have joined their staff, having previously worked with Hughes and assistant Mark Bowen at Blackburn.

It leaves Hughes free to plan for the new campaign, with their European opponents to be named on Tuesday.

Given City's status as top seeds for the first qualifying-round draw, they are hardly expected to be tested and the geographical division also ensures there will be no unwanted trip to Eastern Europe either.

However, some pairings are more favourable than others and given City will not have played a game prior to the first leg on July 17, Hughes would presumably be happy meeting Welsh opposition in the form of TNS or Bangor, both of whom would probably play at Wrexham, the City manager's birthplace.

City could also find themselves heading to either side of the Irish border, while Lithuania's Vetra Vilnius are the best team they could face according to the co-efficients.

Yet even that will not test City too much, certainly not enough to necessitate the immediate signing of Brazilian forward Jo.

Although the deal was trumpeted last week, there has been no official confirmation of a record £19million switch from CSKA Moscow.

It is thought a work permit has been secured, so only the loose ends need to be completed given a fee has been agreed and the Premier League have now satisfied themselves as far as Jo's ownership status is concerned.

There has been speculation owner Thaksin Shinawatra will soon have assets worth £1billion released, making transfer dealing easier, although whether it will be enough to bring Ronaldinho to the north-west is open to doubt.

However, star defender Micah Richards believes there needs to be more new additions to ensure there are no excuses for City under-performing in Hughes' first year in charge.

"With a new manager in place, I am hoping we can get some new players in all positions to strengthen the squad and give it a really good go," Richards told the Manchester Evening News.

"Let's hope we can get to the end of the campaign and say 'We had a good season'.

"We don't want to be making excuses and saying 'We should have done this or that'."

Richards has now recovered from a knee injury and will be available for the new season.

However, Sun Jihai, Paul Dickov and Emile Mpenza will not be involved as they have all been released by Hughes, while Georgios Samaras and Andreas Isaksson will both leave if Celtic and PSV Eindhoven can stump up the £3million and £2million respectively that Hughes believes the pair are worth.

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