Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has lavished praise on his former charge, Wales manager Mark Hughes.

"Mark Hughes has been fantastic as manager of Wales," said Ferguson.

"It's a funny thing about players, when they retire they realise what they are going to miss.

"They are going to miss the drug. How can they stay in? The only way is to become a manager - that's what Mark has done."

Hughes has been on an emotional rollercoaster since taking the reins as the Wales manager.

Wednesday's victory in Azerbaijan saw his side race five points clear of group nine, causing the likes of Feguson to take notice of the Wales re-emergence.

Hughes' assistant manager Eric Harrison believes that 'Sparky' has the pedigree to succeed Fergurson at United.

"Being in charge of Wales will give Mark all the grounding he needs to one day become a manager of a huge Premiership club like United if that's on his agenda for the future," said Harrison.

At home in the manager's dug-out

Hughes makes no secret of wanting to become a club manager one day.

He is yet to sign a new contract with Wales, but will certainly want to see his nation through to Portugal 2004 and beyond.

The praise appeared to humble Hughes, who said: "To hear Sir Alex say that about me is very flattering indeed. To hear someone of his stature say that is very complimentary."

The comments were not always as complimentary - just over a year ago Hughes' team were just one game away from having the worst record in Welsh soccer history.

The dramatic turn in fortunes since means he is just one match away from a record run of nine unbeaten games at home.

And the rise has not just been noticed by managers. Wales have risen 15 places to 61st in the latest FIFA rankings under Hughes - and are sure to rise further as they continue in their quest to qualify for a first major final since 1958.

The win in Baku makes it three wins from three and Yugoslavia now look the biggest danger in group nine.

Hughes, though, is determined to keep a lid on the mounting expectation.

"These are exciting times for Wales and we can now enjoy the moment," he said.

"We have had the best possible start we could have hoped for but there is a lot of hard work ahead and everyone understands that.

"There is a desire to get where we want to go and that covers any other sort of emotion, we might get anxious but there's never fear.

"We have improved with each performance, there's a resilience from the players and they don't want to be beaten in any game."