Source: Team_Talk
Bairns battle good for me - Hughes
The Bairns are four points adrift at the foot of the table and have just the five post-split fixtures to save themselves from relegation.
Despite the public backing of chairman Campbell Christie, Hughes has come under fire from a minority of fans since the turn of the year.
Matters came to a head last week when supporters claming to speak for the Bairns Trust wrote to the club demanding the 44-year-old's removal.
Hughes reacted furiously to the content and timing of the letter but insists his recent travails will only make him stronger.
He said: "Even now, the position we're in, in a macabre kind of way I think is good for you as a manager."
The Falkirk job is Hughes' first in management and he has made no secret of his desire to move on to bigger and better things.
Until this season his time in charge has been an unqualified success, causing him to be linked with both Blackpool and Charlton earlier this year.
His stock may have fallen since and a fan revolt - no matter how small - does little for a manager's reputation.
But Hughes shrugged off how that would play with future employers, claiming the quality of football he has produced speaks for itself.
"It's not a concern," he said of his career prospects. "The style of football we play doesn't always bring you success.
"But the recognition you get and the plaudits you get, that doesn't happen overnight."
Part of the fans' discontent is believed to centre of Hughes' public declaration of his ambition to eventually move on.
He added: "You cannot give an honest answer. I work very, very closely with Watt Nicholl - everybody thinks he's just a sports psychologist.
"He's also good for you in terms of a wee bit of guidance.
"And he keeps saying to me, 'Your two strengths are your honesty and your loyalty. But they're also your two weaknesses'.
"I suppose he's trying to tell me to start being deceitful and start telling lies!
"I can't. If I've got something to say, I'll say it. I think players like that."
He added: "I was only answering an honest question. I think the big, big playground's down in England and one day I'd love to try and get down there.
"But if it's in five years time, great, because I think we've still got unfinished work here at Falkirk Football Club.
"If I'm here for the next five years, I'll be a very, very happy man."
Despite their SPL plight, Falkirk have reached the semi-finals of both domestic cup competitions this season.
The second of those is Sunday's Homecoming Scottish Cup semi against Dunfermline.
Hughes is determined to shield his players from any flak relating to their league position to give the club the best chance of reaching what would be only their fourth final in the competition.
He said: "There's a lot of pressure on the club at the moment because we're bottom of the league.
"I'll take all the pressure on. Leave my players alone.
"It's important come Sunday that my players go out and play with that free spirit that allows them to go out and express themselves.
"Let all that pressure come on to me. I'll take it."
