Hughes receives Cook backing

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City's 3-0 humbling at home to their Coca-Cola Championship opponents further increased the pressure on Hughes, who has presided over an indifferent campaign in the Barclays Premier League that sees the club sitting just two points above the relegation zone after 20 games.

"Mark is part of building the club, from the playing side right through to making this a great place for employees," Cook said in The Sun. "What we don't do is sit around worrying about what happens if it goes wrong."

The Welsh boss has been repeatedly backed by the club's wealthy Abu Dhabi-based owners over the past few weeks despite the club's poor form.

And Cook indicated the manager would be given time to add to the squad this month, with Hughes this weekend saying he wants to bring in five new faces in addition to new £10 million signing Wayne Bridge.

"Once we get through the first window, when Mark's impact will be able to advance the future of the football club, things will start to settle down," Cook continued.

"Mark's plans and the way he is running the team are going to build and change and the confidence will start to build.

"We will bring people here who want to see the club move forward and the fans will ideally take to them because they're committed to the club."

He added: "Mark has played and managed at the highest level and knows what success looks like.

"He and I talk about that success all the time and we are not standing there thinking about 'what if'. We are thinking about when we become successful and how that'll look."