Head to head

May 10 2017: Brechin City 1 Raith Rovers 1

Hughes, however, is loathe to underestimate the challenge posed by Brechin, lavishing praise on his former Hibernian team-mate Darren Dods and his team of “heroes”.

“If any young player wants to see someone who squeezed absolutely everything out of their career, then Doddsy is the man you look at,” recalled Yogi.

“It never came easy to Doddsy, nothing was handed to him. He worked his tail off.

“That is a testament to his character and all these things I talk about. I took a real liking to him and Michael Renwick because they were never out of the gym.

“Anything you were doing, they were asking questions. They went on road runs, they had a sprint coach – can I find an extra yard? Can I improve my game?

“And he can be proud of his team. They stood up to it, they dug in and matched us. These guys are heroes.”

Hughes, meanwhile, has refused to rule out extending his stay in Kirkcaldy, but admits any talks while be on hold until Rovers know which division they will be in next term.

“I have really enjoyed it here and, as for whether I’ll still be here next season; that’s up to the guys above to get talking to my agent and see what needs to be done,” he added. “But that needs to be on the back-burner because we have business to take care of.”