Hughes: No pressure on us for Salford clash

Hughes feels that last weekend’s defeat against Bamber Bridge has caused a number of other teams to write them off in their big push for the Evo-Stik North play-offs.

And with seven games left this season, Hughes is keen for his side to maintain their hunt, but under the radar.

“We may be at home on Saturday, but we are the underdogs,” said Hughes.

“Salford are the team battling for the top spot with Darlington, so the pressure is all on them rather than us.

“After Saturday’s result against Bamber Bridge a lot of people have written us off.

“But we still have our targets to hit and we are aware that anyone in this league can beat anyone.

“You only have to look at the New Mills v Darlington game on Monday night.

“Many people will see that Darlington ran out comfortable winners, but in truth, New Mills were leading before they had a man sent off.”

Over the next few games Hughes and fellow joint-manager Paul Foot will be casting their eye over the squad to see who fits the bill for next season.

He added: “Ovbiously we are looking at next season, as well as this one.

“We have brought players in since we took over, but we have also been loyal to the lads who were already in the squad.

“It has been about giving ourselves a chance and working with what we have in the whole squad.

“We have shown that we are not afraid to drop players to the bench and that has brought a marked change.

“Ben Middleton is the perfect example because we dropped him for a game and that became a big part of his development.

“Football is about philosophy as well as throwing a team out on the field. That rest allowed Ben to see a few things and it has worked a treat.”

As well as topping the table, much of Salford’s season has been focused around the backing of Gary and Phil Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt, something Hughes thinks is fantastic for football at this level.

Hughes said: “They are five international players, who have put their bit back into their local team, which is great for grassroots football.

“They have put an amount of money in and this has helped them to get to where they are in the league.

“It will be a test for us and another piece of this season’s jigsaw. It definitely is a test we are looking forward to.”