The 30-year-old arrives at the League Two club as a free agent after being released by Fleetwood Town.
Hughes made 22 appearances for the Cod Army last season.
His former clubs include Crystal Palace, Peterborough United and Notts County.
Cambridge start the new campaign at home to Newport County on August 8.
Restore Data
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS | |
| 1 | Birmingham CityBirmingham | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 22 |
| 2 | Wrexham | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 20 |
| 3 | Mansfield TownMansfield | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 20 |
| 4 | Lincoln CityLincoln | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 18 |
| 5 | Wycombe WanderersWycombe | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 13 | 4 | 17 |
| 6 | Stockport CountyStockport | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 16 |
| 7 | Exeter CityExeter | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 16 |
| 8 | Charlton AthleticCharlton | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 16 |
| 9 | Huddersfield TownHuddersfield | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 15 |
| 10 | Blackpool | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 16 | 1 | 15 |
| 11 | Barnsley | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 15 |
| 12 | Stevenage | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 14 |
| 13 | Bolton WanderersBolton | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 14 |
| 14 | Peterborough UnitedPeterborough | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 18 | -2 | 14 |
| 15 | Wigan AthleticWigan | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 13 |
| 16 | Reading | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 14 | -1 | 13 |
| 17 | Rotherham UnitedRotherham | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 11 | -2 | 13 |
| 18 | Bristol Rovers | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 16 | -3 | 13 |
| 19 | Leyton Orient | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 14 | -4 | 8 |
| 20 | Northampton TownNorthampton | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 17 | -6 | 8 |
| 21 | Crawley TownCrawley | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 13 | -8 | 7 |
| 22 | Shrewsbury TownShrewsbury | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 17 | -9 | 5 |
| 23 | Burton Albion | 9 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 19 | -9 | 4 |
| 24 | Cambridge UnitedCambridge | 9 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 17 | -11 | 1 |
| > League One Full Table | |||||||||
