On paper, Newcastle had a squad which should have been good enough to avoid the drop ten months ago, whereas Middlesbrough gambled more on the excellence of its Academy system and the promotion of home grown players.
They have been hit twice as a result, arguably lacking the experience in the squad to deal with the difficulty of being a big scalp in the Championship, just as they were unable to avoid finishing in the bottom three last May.
Hughton said: “I think you need a combination of qualities. What we were fortunate enough to have was to only lose a few of our players and still have a lot of players who were determined to do well and bring the club straight back up.
“From a squad point of view, I always said I was happy with the squad and perhaps needed to boost numbers in certain areas.
“But if you are looking at the moral fibre of the squad, I was always happy with that. I thought that, with the rub of the green, we would always do well in this division.”
Hughton, though, is expecting another tough examination of the team’s promotion credentials against a Boro side he feels are much-improved under Gordon Strachan.
He said: “They will still think they are in with a shout of the play-offs. With 12 games left they have a very good chance to get there.
“Every game is tough in this league but the fact that it’s a derby game and they are fighting for promotion makes it harder.
“The manager has brought in his own players. He’s got some of his players from Celtic and they aren’t playing badly. I’ve seen the game and Cardiff away for them was unlucky.”
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