Former Blackburn Rovers, Fulham and Manchester City boss Mark is supportive of calls for the return of artificial pitches to the Football League. BBC Sport exclusively revealed on Friday that some clubs were keen to reintroduce them in a bid to cut costs and increase revenue.
"I can understand why," the former Wales coach told BBC Sport.
"The cost of maintaining a pitch for a year and possibly up to 40 games if the reserves play there is prohibitive."
League One Wycombe and League Two Accrington are keen to install them in a bid to cut costs and increase revenue.
He said: "I used to dread playing on the old plastic pitches - they were concrete carpets and it was utterly unnatural.
"But when we played in Salzburg with Blackburn it was just a world away from what I remembered and there could be no excuses from the players.
"They wore their normal boots, the ball bounced and spun properly and naturally and after five minutes training we were acclimatised.
"The positive is that the surface and technology incorporated in it isn't so alien to visiting teams so there's no excuses that can be trotted out."
Mick Rathbone, who played for Preston when there was an artificial pitch at Deepdale and later worked as Everton's physio, echoed Hughes's sentiments.
"The new third generation pitches are light years away from the old plastic pitches," he said.
"The new pitches with the millions of rubber balls are soft to run on, you can stop and turn very easily so there could be implications with preventing those types of injuries.
"And if you look at the economic advantages, they are massive. It kept Preston going back in the 1980s."
The Football Supporters' Federation, while not against artificial pitches, believe fans and players should be consulted before any decision is made.
Spokesman Michael Brunskill said: "Their introduction in this country should only happen after consultation with supporters and the Professional Footballers' Association.
"Sadly it might end the tradition of fans having their ashes scattered on the pitch - we can't see many people choosing to scatter their ashes on the hallowed plastic."
