Hughes: De Graaf will have good strike rate from midfield

The Dutch ace grabbed his first two strikes in a green-and-white jersey although they weren't enough to prevent the Edinburgh club succumbing to Slovenian outfit NK Maribor for the second time in a week, the 6-2 aggregate score ending Hibs' dreams of Europa Cup glory.

But, while disappointed, Hughes believes the 30-year-old former NAC Breda captain will quickly become a firm favourite with fans not only with his performances but with a healthy number of goals.

Hughes revealed De Graaf reminded him of McGinlay, scorer of a goal every four games throughout his career, in the way in which he can drift into the opposition penalty area.

In addition to his double against Maribor, De Graaf also went close with another shot which whistled wide while goalkeeper Marko Pridigar did well to beat away a powerful effort only seconds before the Slovenians' captain Marcos Tavares opened the scoring to leave Hibs needing five goals on the night to progress.

The Hibs boss said: "Edwin is just like Pat in the way he ghosts in to score. Pat was great at making those late runs to get on the end of things.

"I played with Pat both at Hibs and Ayr United and he always seemed to get into double figures every season.

"That's something we've needed from midfield, Edwin got two the other night and could quite easily have claimed a hat-trick.

"I believe Edwin is going to be a big player for us. He's a clever player, a real thinker who knows the game like the back of his hand, you don't have to tell him anything twice. He'll get in there and score goals just as Pat did but he is also a good guy to have at the club, a real professional."

If De Graaf can emulate McGinlay, scorer of more than 100 goals in his career, then Hughes will have found a potent foil for his front three of Anthony Stokes, Derek Riordan and Colin Nish. The trio claimed more than 50 goals between them last season but Hibs' midfield contributed a paltry eight in total, Merouane Zemmama the top scorer from that area with three.

Meanwhile, while bitterly disappointed to see his first foray into Europe as a manager ended in such emphatic fashion, Hughes insisted his players could learn from Maribor, saying: "Not taking anything away from them, but I don't think they are the best.

"However, things we do in two they did in one, things we do in three they did in two, they were that bit quicker than us. The 3-0 defeat over there was a sore one, but these two games have simply whetted my appetite for Hibs to be back in Europe every year."