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The Blues go into tonight's tie after winning their opening group stage game against FC Twente knowing that a positive result would be a big boost ahead of next Wednesday's home game against Paris St Germain.
Before that comes Sunday's game against United - but first the UEFA Cup is the sole focus for the Manager.
"A draw would not be a bad result," he asserts, "if we win both homes games but pick something up away then you are in a good position to go through.
"Schalke will obviously be looking to get a positive result, but if we can get some points here and win at home then maybe seven points will be enough.
"Having to travel to Europe between big games is what the big clubs have to deal with, and that's what we are aspiring to.
"It will be a full house, with 60-odd thousand people, it should be a great occasion. We have to be ready because it will be a difficult game for us."
Hughes also accepts that resting players would have been good in an ideal world, but the enforced absences of Elano, Robinho & Zabaleta have reduced his options.
"We are missing three key players, so the option of resting players has been taken away from me to an extent. We had a positive result at the weekend, so we are looking to build on that leading into the derby.
"Learning to play without him is something we have to do because we may have to rest him at times during the season. He's played every game since he came here and we need to look after him, but ideally we want him to get over his injury first," he adds.
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