Mark Hughes was on the receiving end of Sir Alex Ferguson's “hairdryer” once or twice during his time as a Manchester United player. Given his quietly spoken manner, however, few could have imagined that Hughes would adopt a similarly fearsome approach to lambasting players when he ventured into management, but Roque Santa Cruz, the Blackburn Rovers striker, has revealed that the Welshman can be just as terrifying when his team have fallen below the standards he expects of them.

Hughes has established himself as one of the brightest young managers in British football during his time in charge of Wales and then Blackburn, but an eye for talent is not the only thing he has inherited from Ferguson. “He is as hard with us as he needs to be,” Santa Cruz said. “He has had some hard words to say to us this season and he is right when he is hard on us. When you lose a match, you can't be nice to anyone. It's not acceptable. You have to tell people what they did wrong to help them learn from their mistakes and he has no problem telling us.”

Hughes last delivered his version of the hairdryer treatment after Blackburn's 4-1 defeat by Coventry City, the Coca-Cola Championship club, in the third round of the FA Cup in January, but Santa Cruz has nothing but admiration for the man who brought him to Ewood Park from Bayern Munich for £3.8million last summer.

“I have been very impressed by him and the things he does for the team,” the Paraguay forward said. “He was successful as a player and he has brought that way of thinking into management.”

However intimidating Hughes may seem, though, Santa Cruz is finding life more appealing than it was in Munich. “It was tough going there,” he said. “Germans aren't the easiest people to talk to. They don't really make much effort. That was my experience. The people here at Blackburn are much friendlier.”