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 | 27 | 19 | 6 | 2 | 46 | 19 | 27 | 63 |
| 2 | Wycombe WanderersWycombe | 29 | 17 | 8 | 4 | 55 | 30 | 25 | 59 |
| 3 | Wrexham | 29 | 16 | 7 | 6 | 43 | 25 | 18 | 55 |
| 4 | Stockport CountyStockport | 29 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 44 | 28 | 16 | 50 |
| 5 | Huddersfield TownHuddersfield | 28 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 41 | 26 | 15 | 48 |
| 6 | Leyton Orient | 28 | 13 | 5 | 10 | 40 | 25 | 15 | 44 |
| 7 | Charlton AthleticCharlton | 28 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 36 | 28 | 8 | 44 |
| 8 | Reading | 28 | 13 | 5 | 10 | 43 | 41 | 2 | 44 |
| 9 | Bolton WanderersBolton | 29 | 13 | 5 | 11 | 43 | 43 | 0 | 44 |
| 10 | Barnsley | 29 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 41 | 39 | 2 | 43 |
| 11 | Stevenage | 27 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 27 | 25 | 2 | 40 |
| 12 | Lincoln CityLincoln | 29 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 35 | 34 | 1 | 39 |
| 13 | Blackpool | 28 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 41 | 40 | 1 | 38 |
| 14 | Mansfield TownMansfield | 27 | 11 | 4 | 12 | 35 | 34 | 1 | 37 |
| 15 | Rotherham UnitedRotherham | 28 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 37 |
| 16 | Wigan AthleticWigan | 28 | 9 | 7 | 12 | 27 | 28 | -1 | 34 |
| 17 | Exeter CityExeter | 29 | 9 | 5 | 15 | 33 | 46 | -13 | 32 |
| 18 | Bristol Rovers | 28 | 9 | 4 | 15 | 28 | 44 | -16 | 31 |
| 19 | Peterborough UnitedPeterborough | 29 | 8 | 6 | 15 | 45 | 55 | -10 | 30 |
| 20 | Northampton TownNorthampton | 29 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 28 | 45 | -17 | 30 |
| 21 | Burton Albion | 29 | 5 | 10 | 14 | 30 | 44 | -14 | 25 |
| 22 | Crawley TownCrawley | 27 | 6 | 6 | 15 | 27 | 48 | -21 | 24 |
| 23 | Shrewsbury TownShrewsbury | 28 | 6 | 5 | 17 | 28 | 48 | -20 | 23 |
| 24 | Cambridge UnitedCambridge | 28 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 29 | 50 | -21 | 22 |
| > League One Full Table | |||||||||
