MARK Hughes is backing City’s influx of new faces to hit the ground running.

Adam Clayton and Tolaji Bola are both likely to feature in this afternoon’s mouth-watering Valley Parade showdown with fourth-placed Carlisle after taking the tally of January recruits up to six.

Youngsters Dara Costelloe and Thierry Nevers have already been thrown into the fray.

Ciaran Kelly is getting closer to being involved and Matt Derbyshire is now available with his international clearance all sorted.

Hughes believes there is no lengthy bedding-in required - something that City cannot afford to do mid-season.

“I don’t think it will take them very long at all,” he said. “They are good players.

“I feel they will enhance the group almost immediately. We’ve seen that in training straight away.

“If I felt there was a real period when we’d have to wait for them to get up to speed then it wouldn’t have made sense to do it.

“Arguably we’re on the home straight now and ticking games off to the end of the season.

“We haven’t got a window where we can allow them to develop and integrate slowly. We’ve got to get them up to speed quickly.”

Hughes believes the arrival of so many new signings will keep others on their toes and bring more intensity to training.

“That always happens when a new face comes into the building. I’ve certainly seen evidence of that.

“That’s the response you want when you bring in new blood.

“When I was playing at good clubs, almost without fail they would be looking at centre forwards every year. There was always speculation.

“I always felt that you were going to have to work exceptionally hard to get me out the team. I didn’t make it easy for my managers.

“They probably thought I would call it a day, but I viewed it as a challenge. The lads should think the same.

“See it as an opportunity to back yourself and your ability against somebody who, maybe, has played at a higher level.

“See if you can raise your own game to that level. You’re going to improve as well if you do.”

City would overtake Carlisle with a victory as they look to avenge the Brunton Park defeat on Boxing Day.

Hughes understands the significance of facing another side in the promotion pack. But he has played down any suggestion that it is a “six-pointer” for his team.

He added: “We’ve got any number of games coming up that you could put that label on.

“The season won’t be defined this weekend but we can help ourselves out.

“We’re looking forward to it. We underperformed up in Carlisle.

“We saw a team that were difficult to play against and once they got the lead, we found them very hard to break down.

“We had plenty of possession but didn’t really create any clear-cut chances.

“Maybe that was a little bit of a catalyst for us to change and go in a different way to see if that would benefit us at the top end of the pitch - and it has to a point.

“They are obviously one of our closest rivals so it’s another opportunity to help ourselves and hinder them.”