Hughes praises 'outstanding' County after Millwall loss
The Championship club avoided a Carabao Cup shock thanks to Ryan Leonard's clinical finish on the hour, but Millwall boss Alex Neil admitted his side had come through a tough test.
And Hughes was delighted with his players, especially as he made eight changes from Saturday's 2-1 win at Crawley Town in League Two.
"I'm disappointed to lose, but there was lots to be pleased with and lots of areas where we're showing signs of continual progress," said the Exiles boss, whose side almost took the lead in the first half via a James Clarke header that was superbly saved and led to a huge scramble in the Millwall area.
"In cup games against teams from higher leagues, you need moments to fall for you in the box on the odd occasion. It definitely didn't in the first half with that goalmouth scramble," added Hughes.
"You need that to fall for you and if it does it changes the context of the game and we maybe have spaces we can exploit a little bit more.
"I was really pleased with everyone on a really hot evening, I thought they were outstanding."
(Image: Kian Abdullah/Huw Evans Agency) Goalkeeper Jordan Wright impressed on his debut, while Manchester United loanee Habeeb Ogunneye showed his potential in his first start.
"The lads who came in deserved to start because of the way they've trained and the way they've impacted games after coming on," said Hughes.
"The most telling factor for us as a group was that nothing really changed [in the performance levels]. Some of the football in the first 30 minutes I thought was outstanding.
"The hard part has been telling people they haven't been starting, because of the way they've gone about it.
"I'm really pleased for Jordan Wright, making his first start, Habeeb as well, and Michael Spellman and Ciaran Brennan coming back from injury.
"And I thought the front two were a handful in spells against a really solid back four."
(Image: Kian Abdullah/Huw Evans Agency) Hughes says those who impressed against Millwall have a chance of keeping their place for this weekend's trip to Grimsby Town.
"We play Grimsby now and we play next Tuesday as well, and next Saturday," he said. "It's a hectic schedule and everybody is going to need to be available and ready to make an impact.
"There are more than 50 games so everybody is going to play a significant amount of football.
"We need everybody to stick together and support each other and show no disappointment if you don't start, just be ready to show your ability. And everybody's done it.
"The challenge for the group is to make sure we maintain that togetherness and unity and show really good levels on a daily basis.
If we can do that I believe we can continue to illustrate what we've shown in the first three or four games."
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