However, he has seen some "interesting" times with his club this season, with European football back at St Andrews ... not least the derby win over Wolves last night.
The Birmingham boss hailed his players for coping with a gruelling schedule this season after Wade Elliott's goal earned them a 1-0 win at Wolves in their FA Cup third-round replay.
Hughton's main priority is trying to secure promotion back to the Barclays Premier League at the first attempt.
However, City have also had eight qualifiers and group games in the Europa League despite the loss of many of last season's players.
And an FA Cup run could now be a possibility after Elliott's goal in Birmingham's 36th game of the campaign set up a visit to Sheffield United.
Chris Hughton: "We have played on average eight more games than most teams in our division.
"But at this moment there is a real good spirit in the team. All we are trying to do on our side is to be positive about everything.
"There is a group of players here who want to play. No-one has come in and told me they are tired.
"It is one game after another but I've got a group of lads who enjoy playing football.
"It was a satisfying result. We had to defend very well at times and our two centre-halfs (Curtis Davies and Steven Caldwell) were excellent and we needed them.
"But I thought we showed enough on the ball to be a real threat at times and in the end we just deserved it."