Hughes spent £58million in signing Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez and Roque Santa Cruz during the closed season, the trio joining an already burgeoning frontline that included the likes of Robinho and Craig Bellamy.

Perhaps naturally, it drew scornful comments of Hughes deploying a 1-1-9 or 1-0-10 formation given the embarrassment of riches at his disposal.

City might not have scored as many goals as perhaps envisaged so far - just 16 compared to Arsenal's 27 for example - but Hughes knows he is in a far healthier position compared to his rivals.

"A lot of those comments came at a time when we hadn't finished our strategy," said Hughes.

"I've always said I would never allow City to become weaker before becoming stronger.

"I said I would always make sure we brought players into the club first before we allowing them to leave, and that's what happened.

"We were able to conclude a number of deals, most of them concerned attack-minded players.

"Once we got them through the door it was a case of allowing other players to leave, or go out on loan.

"We always knew what we were trying to do, and now we're quite comfortable with where we are in terms of an attacking threat."

City have scored in all 10 matches they have played this season, and with Craig Bellamy due to return from a groin strain for the visit of Fulham tomorrow, Hughes will again have a glut of options.

Only £32.5million Robinho will be missing, the Brazilian out for another fortnight as he continues to recover from a stress fracture of his ankle.

"I'm happy with the quality we've got," insisted Hughes, who has not yet had an opportunity to consider all the permutations his forwards afford him.

"We've Robi to come back, so I'm delighted with the quality we can put on the pitch, in whatever combination.

"We've looked at different things, had different combinations, and we've not investigated them all to this point.

"I'm sure as the season progresses we'll see different formations and different personnel and combinations of personnel.

"It's obviously about making sure we get the job done, and that means picking the right players for the right teams."

With such an array of talent at his disposal, there is a flip side, and it is not just a case of trying to keep everybody happy.

Hughes has discovered a certain reverie towards his team so far, which in turn has led to a more defensive attitude from opponents.

"What we're finding this year is teams are quite respectful," said Hughes.

"Certainly at home they're dropping off and allowing us to dictate possession, and then hoping to catch us on the break.

"I think that's due to the little bit of respect they have for the talent we can put up against them.

"That's something we've not had a great deal of experience of in recent times.

"So we have to get up to speed in terms of being able to break teams down that just come and try to frustrate us."

Fulham have posed more problems than that over the years as they have won three of their last four league games at City.

Hughes will at least have Kolo Toure back in defence as he is fit again following a heel injury, but is without right-back Pablo Zabaleta who serves a one-match ban.