JOHN HUGHES has hailed the appointment of Jack Ross as Hibernian manager, believing him to be the second best man for the job...after him.

Hughes joked that he should have got the nod for a return to Easter Road as boss, but he has faith in Ross to use his experiences at Sunderland to get the Hibees moving back in the right direction.

When asked if he thought Ross was the obvious choice for the role, Hughes said: "No, I think I was!

"Jack is very conscientious in the way he goes about his business and he has the fantastic experience of being down at Sunderland. I think that when you see them now, they got rid of him a little too early. They should have given him a chance.

"All managers want time but he will still look back on that experience and, even now, feel that it stands him in good stead. He will probably still want to be in there, taking Sunderland up, but he will believe that the experience will stand him in good stead.

"So it was a fantastic appointment, a very good appointment. But he needs to get his own team in there and that will take him two or three windows."

Hughes believes that Ross may look to men that he already knows well to bolster his Hibs squad, and players who know the club. And he thinks that the club will back their manager in the January transfer window.

"Hibs can get into the top six and then Jack needs to look higher," he said.

"I have always seen Hibs as a top four club, getting into Europe and getting runs in the cup and if you don’t do that, you always have to be in the top six. I think Jack will do that and if he is bringing in the kind of players I am assuming he will, just listening to bits of conversations, I can see that.

"If it is the likes of (Dylan) McGeough and (Marc) McNulty then he also has the experience of seeing those players down in England.

"I think Hibs are at the stage where they can back him. I think they run a tight ship but I think they will know that they do need two or three. Saying that, one or two might have to go, as they shuffle the pack."