AARON HUGHES wants Newcastle United to forget about the intimidating circumstances they will face in Israel and focus on booking a place in the group stage of the UEFA Cup.

It is seven years in November since Hughes made his Magpies debut in a 1-0 defeat to Barcelona in the incredible surroundings of the Nou Camp.

And, in stark contrast to that special night in the Champions League, the Northern Ireland international will be part of the Newcastle backline in Tel Aviv on Thursday when they take on Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin.

Having taken a two goal advantage in the first leg at St James' Park in the first leg, Graeme Souness's side should be able to complete the task in the Middle East with ease.

But it is a journey into the unknown for Newcastle and Hughes insists the Premiership club's past experiences will help them come to terms with the surroundings of the Ramat Gan Stadium - where over 30,000 home fans are expected.

Sir Bobby Robson led his team to a variety of places - including the partisan home ground of Partizan Belgrade at the start of last season.

And Hughes, who flies with the Newcastle squad to Israel today, insists Souness' men will have to quickly adapt to the atmosphere on Thursday if they don't want to throw away a valuable two-goal advantage.

"We know a little bit more about Sakhnin now that we have played them but we don't know what it's going to be like out there," said Hughes, a big part of Newcastle's push to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup last season.

"We don't know what type of crowd they're going to have but I can imagine it will be hostile regardless whether there'll be 500 or 50,000 there.

"But we've just got to go out there and do a professional job and make sure we're in the next round.

"The experience of games in Kiev, Sarajevo and Belgrade in recent years stand you in good stead."

Newcastle head to Israel in decent shape having won their last four matches and, since Souness took over, they have climbed to sixth in the Premiership table - marking a massive improvement on their opening four games without a win.

Striker Craig Bellamy, who has also been played on the wing by Souness, has been influential in the St James' Park outfit's rise up the table.

Bellamy is never short of controversy. With his off the field behaviour seemingly hitting the headlines as often as he stars on the pitch.

But Hughes insists the Welshman is one of the finest players around when he hits top form and criticism of the three-goal front-man is unfair.

"Craig has started the season really well. If you had to pick a star player out of the side it would be Craig," said Hughes.

"He's a confident character anyway and if he gets knocked down he'll get back up and have another go. That's the great thing about him and when he's putting the ball in the back of the net it's even better for us.

"He's certainly a man you would rather have in your side than against you. When he's on form he's certainly one of the biggest threats in the Premiership.

"Some of the things thrown at him are a little bit harsh at times - especially up here. When you get labelled with something it tends to stick for a while.

"He works very hard in training and people don't see that side of him.

"When some of us go to lunch he's one of the ones who goes to the gym afterwards. He has certainly got the rewards for it so far this season."

Saturday's victory over West Brom maintained Souness' 100 per cent start after succeeding Robson on Tyneside.

The Scotsman arrived with a reputation of being a disciplinarian but Hughes insists that hard-line approach has not been seen on the training ground just yet.

"Everyone is buzzing at the moment especially with the new manager coming in and having a couple of good results," said Hughes, hoping for a recall to the starting line-up against Sakhnin.

"There's no real difference in atmosphere, it is similar as it is the same players but there is a definite buzz about the place. That will be the same anywhere there is a new manager.

"There's been no big crackdown a lot of it was common sense. The manager came in and just said here's the rules and if you stick to them and if everyone pulls in the same direction and no one is going to have a problem."

l Former Newcastle assistant manager Mick Wadsworth's stint as coach of Portuguese side Beira-Mar came to an end yesterday

Wadsworth stood down after Beira-Mar had earned six points from their four SuperLiga games this season and picked up a 2-1 victory at previously undefeated Vitoria Setubal on Friday.