Hughes inspired by antics of 'Special One' Mourinho

Hughes was gripped by Mourinho's antics before, during and after his Inter Milan side's Champions League semi-final second leg at Barcelona, which saw the self-styled 'Special One' once again steal the show.

Hughes is considered one of the Scottish game's more colourful characters, though more through his sense of humour than a tendency to rub people up the wrong way.

But, having seen the latter tactic pay dividends for his Portuguese counterpart, Hughes is ready to adopt a more confrontational approach when it comes to arch rivals Hearts' claims they can finish above Hibs in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

"I'm intrigued – how does Jose Mourinho do it?" Hughes said. "How does he create that siege mentality where everybody hates him?

"I know he studied psychology and all that stuff, but how does he do it?

"I heard that those Hearts boys have been mouthing off and they want to try to catch us. Bring it on."

Joking that he saw himself as the 'Special One', Hughes admits he has done nothing to deserve being mentioned in the same breath as Mourinho, who is on the brink of yet another major trophy.

But he believes victory today – which would be his first in a derby since taking charge of boyhood idols Hibs last summer – would cap a relatively successful debut season. That is because winning would end Hearts' faint hopes of overhauling their arch rivals, who have collapsed spectacularly in the last two months after a blistering first half of the campaign.

Hughes said: "I'm honest enough to say there's been frustrations – it's been like that this year.

"We're playing a game on Saturday that, if we win it, can take us into Europe.

"There are another seven managers underneath me who would give their right arm for that opportunity.

"Yet, because of the results in the last eight weeks, everybody's having a wee knock.

"We have to make sure that we go out there and have a belief and a trust that the way we've been playing over the last few weeks and training is good enough to win us the game."

Mourinho described Inter's win over European champions Barcelona as the biggest achievement of his coaching career.

But, despite being Hibs through and through, Hughes insists he could not say the same if he breaks his derby duck tomorrow. He added: "I still think there's so much more for Hibs to try to achieve.

"I'm not playing it down; we know the importance of it. I'm desperate to win this game on Saturday and we've got 100 per cent focus on the game.

"There's not another place come kick-off time on Saturday that I would rather be, right in amongst it, right in the dressing room, getting your players wound up, ready to go."

Meanwhile, Hughes is hopeful Derek Riordan will remain at Hibs, despite his anger at being fined by the club for criticising the Easter Road pitch.

The striker, who has been linked with moves to a number of European clubs, was docked a week's wages after he described his club's home surface as a "bog" prior to last month's win over Kilmarnock.

The 27-year-old lost an internal appeal against that punishment on Tuesday and is understood to be considering taking his case to the Scottish Premier League.

Hughes said: "I've always enjoyed working with Derek; he does things with a football that no other player can do, and hopefully that'll be the case next year."