Source: Team_Talk
Hughes demands Hibs response
The Easter Road boss was hugely critical of his players following last Sunday's 2-0 reverse at New Douglas Park, accusing them of not matching their hosts' application and desire for the three points.
Hughes shared some of the blame himself, admitting he may have chosen the wrong starting line-up as he went with a three-pronged strike-force and found his team two goals down within only 12 minutes.
However, after publicly sharing his frustrations over his players' meek display, the former Hibs captain believes they can get it right on home turf on Saturday in the first of a league and cup double against a St Johnstone outfit who have racked up three draws and a defeat since promotion.
He said: "I wasn't raging, I was frustrated. I wasn't shouting and bawling in the dressing room, but I was very frustrated in the way we played, because we're better than what we showed.
"I've definitely seen a reaction and that's the frustration, it's not about them not being able to do it. When we're at ourselves we're not a bad side, but at Hamilton we needed to be at ourselves and we weren't.
"We need to get back to winning ways on Saturday and hopefully that will be the case. But to do that we're going to have to be at our best.
"I know the answers. It's up to me to get the best out of them, to make sure we trust each other and that we've got a great work ethic on a Saturday.
"We're four games in and we've won two and lost two, I'm not going to fling myself off a cliff. Let's keep our feet on the ground.
"All I'm saying is I'm disappointed in the performance because we're better than that."
Hibs this week announced their financial figures for the 12 months to July 31, revealing a profit for a fifth successive year.
And Hughes, who has been charged with returning success on the pitch to match that off the field, has praised chairman Rod Petrie and the Easter Road board for backing him in the transfer market so far.
The former Falkirk manager, who has made the high-profile signings of former Arsenal and Sunderland striker Anthony Stokes and ex-Celtic and Manchester United midfielder Liam Miller, added: "Even when I was at Falkirk you looked at this club in envy, in the way they go about their business, in terms of the way they run their club, Easter Road stadium, the training centre, the way they sell on players.
"We're proud of the way the club is run. You have to take your hat off to the chairman and the board of directors, the chairman is a very shrewd man and I'm learning an awful lot from him. I'm desperate to bring success on the pitch for all those reasons."
