The Bairns came within eight minutes of taking their place in the top half of the SPL for the season's run-in before a late goal from Aberdeen allowed the Pittodrie side to leapfrog them into sixth place.

That bitter blow appeared to affect Hughes' outfit badly, with a goalless draw with Gretna and a 1-0 defeat to St Mirren following, resulting in them slipping from seventh to eighth in the table.

However, Falkirk got themselves back on track with Monday's comfortable win and Hughes is hopeful they can now depose Hearts and finish the season as 'champions' of the bottom six.

He said: "I've definitely still got my eye on seventh place and I think the players rescued it a wee bit on Monday night.

"There was a wee bit of frustration that, first and foremost, we didn't do the business against Aberdeen and then that it fizzled out a little bit.

"But we've rescued it again.

"I can only look at my team and I felt we controlled the game against Hearts, passed it well, got a couple of goals and so I'm happy with what I saw."

The victory was Falkirk's first in six matches and also means they can guarantee eighth with a win over Inverness Caley Thistle this weekend.

However, Hughes insists he has not uncovered a new magic formula for his players, insisting the turnaround is simply down to hard work.

He added: "We've tried to make sure the training has been done the right way so that we lifted it back up again.

"I keep saying to the players that defenders need to have a pride not to lose goals and to defend with their life at training because it translates when they go out onto the pitch.

"Midfielders need to pass it like they're going to pass it in a game because if you're a great passer in training it transfers to the game on a Saturday.

"Strikers need to score goals at training because it translates onto a Saturday as well.

"The boys have risen to that message and all credit to them."