Source: Team_Talk
Hughes taking CIS Cup seriously
Hughes bristled at suggestions he would send out a second-string side ahead of Sunday's Scottish Premier League clash with Celtic.
"No, definitely not," said Hughes, who enjoyed more than one successful cup run at Falkirk before joining Hibs this summer.
"We're in it to win it, simple as that.
"When I was at my old club, I think we got to two semi-finals in the last three years and they're good occasions.
"I'll have to give Brechin all the respect; they'll want come here and get our scalp.
"They've got an old Hibs manager in Jim Duffy, Kevin McAllister - an ex-Hibs player.
"I'll be putting out the strongest team that I think that I need to put out.
"One or two of them might need a rest and it'd be good to rest them for Sunday's match.
"But we cannot sit back and rest on our laurels; we're not good enough, simple as that.
"Everything that we get, we have to work for.
"But hopefully we should have enough quality to go and win the football match."
Hibs crashed out of both domestic cups a the first hurdle last season, suffering a shock home defeat to Morton at this stage of the League Cup.
"This was the time last year when Morton put the club out the cup," said Hughes, who had a warning for those players who plan to take Irn-Bru Second Division Brechin lightly.
"We don't want to be a scalp so we're going to have to be totally professional.
"I keep saying to the players, 'Make sure you're with me for the next two or three years. And to do that, it's the way you conduct yourself, go about you're training, and the way you play the game.
"If you want to sit back, resting on your laurels, at the end of the day I'll just do something about that."
He added: "Every day we come in training like and underdog, training like a number two. Why? Because I think the number always trains harder than the champion because they want to be the champion."
One player who will be omitted at Easter Road is goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay, with Graham Stack coming in for his Hibs debut.
"He needs that game, and he needs to find his surroundings," said Hughes, who is hoping for a bumper crowd after his side's 100% start to the season.
"I'd like to think we'll get well over 8,000 supporters.
"There's something going on here, I can feel it. I can feel the vibe; there's something in the water at the moment."
