Hibs In Europe

John Hughes admits he is a proud man. He will be even prouder when he steers Hibs back into Europe tonight. But the Hibs manager is not content with just making a fleeting appearance as his side prepare to face Maribor. The Edinburgh club will make their first outing in one of UEFA's main competitions for five years when they kick off their Europa League third qualifying-round clash. Hughes is determined to get them through to the play-off round when they bring the Slovenians back to Easter Road, which is undergoing a major redevelopment of its East Stand this summer. And the former Hibs captain and boyhood fan is also set on ensuring a European adventure is a regular occurrence. Hughes said: "I'm a very proud man,. "I hadn't seen the stadium for a while and when I went back on Monday and looked out, I thought 'this will be one of the best stadiums in Scotland'. I want to be making sure that most years we're playing in European football and carrying the flag for Scotland and hopefully we'll do that. We need to take great inspiration from the Old Firm - what they have done getting to UEFA Cup finals. But come Thursday night, it's a matter of keeping ourselves in the tie and getting them back to Easter Road. We'll have to come up with a strategy that will do that and we have been working very, very hard towards that."

Hughes will also fulfil a personal ambition by leading a club out in Europe as he continues his development as a manager. The former Falkirk boss is always looking to learn, such as his extra work on the club's tour of Holland last week. He said: "As a manager sometimes you're looking for that inspiration - what else is out there? What can you do for your development? Even in Holland, there was a Turkish team there, and Plymouth, and Arnhem themselves. You could watch their training sessions and take pointers - that makes you a better manager. It gives you that drive to make the team better."

However, there are some tricks that Hughes could teach others - such as how to confuse any Maribor scouts who attended Hibs 1-1 draw against Vitesse Arnhem at the weekend. he said: "We have done everything, even there on Saturday against Arnhem, we held a bit back. We changed all the numbers round. I think Pat Stanton was playing number 10 - he was on the team sheet anyway."