NEW boss John Hughes is dreaming about becoming a Pars legend like Norrie McCathie and Jock Stein but knows the reality is a tough challenge to avoid relegation.

In a wide-ranging interview, the 57-year-old said he was "excited" about the job but stated that bottom-of-the-league Dunfermline were "the laughing stock of Scottish football" and any player who's not fully committed to the cause shouldn't bother putting on the jersey.

Hughes said the squad were good enough to get out of trouble and, after performing a similar rescue job for Ross County last season, believes he can help Athletic stay in the Championship.

Asked how he felt to be the new Pars boss he said: "I'm absolutely delighted, excited, but I know it's going to be difficult.

"I've not got a magic wand so we have to stick together and I'm here to help them along.

"I'm more than confident we can get back to winning ways and get the team up the league but it's not going to be easy and it'll be down to hard work.

"The history of Dunfermline and the players that have come through the doors, it's an iconic club so I'm like an excited young boy and I can't wait to get started."

He continued: "My assessment is the squad is good enough but I totally understand that sometimes the confidence is lacking when you're not winning games, that can bring a lack of momentum and, before you know it, you're on that slippery slope.

"I've had that at a few clubs, even away back at Falkirk, I had it at Raith Rovers and at Ross County so I've had that experience and it's maybe one of the reasons I got the job.

"I've got that know-how, how to get the best out of players individually and collectively, and that's what I intend to do."

And Hughes said: "I'm looking forward to it, I really am excited.

"Some fans may go on about the Falkirk connection and all that, but c'mon, gie us a break.

"When I'm at a club I'm only doing the best for that club.

"Now I'm at the Pars, if I'm here for 15 years and get success I will go down with the legends like big Norrie McCathie, Sir Alex Ferguson and Jock Stein.

"And I better give big Leish a mention too!

"That's my goal. It might never work and some might say he's dreaming, 15 years? He's only here for whatever the contract is but you never know in football and that's my commitment."

The new man has a job on his hands as Athletic are bottom of the Championship and winless after 13 league matches.

They're four points adrift of ninth-placed Queen of the South and Hughes didn't pull any punches: "The expectations were to try and challenge at the top and get in there.

"Now we're bottom of the division.

"I just hope all the players know that everyone is laughing at them in Scottish football.

"We're the laughing stock in Scottish football – 'There's Dunfermline beaten again' – we need to change that.

"That alone for me, when people are laughing at me, it's 'Is that right? We'll see about that'.

"That's a siege mentality and that can only come together if everyone is 100 per cent committed to the cause and everything we do.

"I'll have no-one saying, 'It's only Dunfermline, we're only in the Championship'. Don't come in then. Don't train.

"If you don't want to train and don't want to give me 100 per cent, then don't come onto the training pitch, don't spoil it for everyone else."

Hughes, 57, was a centre back for clubs including Falkirk, Hibs and Celtic and went on to manage the Bairns, as well as Raith Rovers, Ross County, Hibs and Hartlepool United.

He said: "I set standards at a football club. I love to laugh and joke and create a great spirit for the simple reason we're all in the game of football because we all love it.

"So if you don't appreciate it, don't come in. If you appreciate it, you're coming in full of enthusiasm, you're up for it and you love it and you can get that spring back in their step.

"They are good footballers. They've all done it since they were wee but when you're in that situation where you're not winning and you're feeling the pressure, you're not the same player.

"It's my job just to let them go in free and let them play and express themselves."

Hughes said he hopes to play stylish, attractive football in time but that, right now, they have to be hard to beat.

He said: "(East End Park) has always been a difficult place to come and I'm honest enough to say I did my due diligence and spoke to players that have played against them, and managers and coaches, and (they said) a wee bit of a soft touch, give away too many goals too easy, so I have to stop that.

"The first thing we have to do is have a real pride in keeping a clean sheet and I'm not just talking about defenders, no, clean sheets start from the front.

"If you keep a clean sheet then you're not getting beat. That's the mentality I'm going to try and instil in the players ASAP."

Hughes admitted that relegation at Raith Rovers was "probably one of my lowest points in Scottish football" and that he'd had to take the criticism on the chin and learn from it.

He added: "It's the disappointments that make you the man you are and the manager you are and I don't think I would have done such a good job at Ross County if I'd never had that experience at Raith.

"Now I haven't got a bad word to say about Raith but when we play them I want to beat them."

He added: "I'm absolutely delighted they're back in the Championship and doing well. They've got a good manager in John McGlynn but now it's my job, every time we play them, to make sure it's our fans that are singing and that, in time, we overtake them and they're the ones looking up at us."

The Dunfermline boss said the interview process was "intense" and "demanding" and added: "I'm not patronising the fans, I'm as honest as the day is long, but this is a sleeping giant and someone is going to take this club where it rightly deserves to be.

"Without getting carried away, we all want to be back in the top flight. I've already said that's not going to be easy but it has to be the objective, it has to be the long-term goal.

"In that interview process, they're interviewing me but I've also got the brass neck to interview them because I want to know the ambition for the project and the enthusiasm for where we want to go and it was overwhelming, the passion these guys have for Dunfermline.

"These are good people with their hearts in the right place for their hometown club. I want to be part of that and that's why I'm very lucky and very fortunate to be the manager of Dunfermline."