MARK Hughes may have celebrated his 37th birthday this week but even the mere mention of his name still sends shivers down the spine of opposing defenders.

Stockport skipper Mike Flynn is the latest man to be charged with the onerus task of attempting to snuff-out the threat of Sparky at Ewood tomorrow.

And the 31-year-old centre back is expecting to face one of the toughest challenges of his career as Andy Kilner's relegation-haunted troops come in search of vital points to ease the pressure at the foot of the table.

"Mark Hughes is one of the all-time greats," said Flynn.

"He's plied his trade at some of the top clubs in the world and it's going to be a great occasion for me to pit my wits against him.

"Everybody knows what he's all about, but it's another thing trying to stop him. He's strong, physically, and he scores vital goals at vital times.

"So we'll have to be on our toes if we want to stop him."

Flynn has experienced his fair shar of ups and downs over the last eight seasons at Edgeley Park.

But life has rarely been tougher than it is at present with County having won just three times since the turn of the year.

After surviving relegation by the skin of their teeth last term, Flynn and company now find themselves in the middle of a scrap for survival again. But, in former Burnley winger Andy Kilner, Flynn believes they have the right man at the helm to turn things around -- provided he is given time.

"Obviously, because of results, he's under some pressure," said Flynn.

"But the chairman and the board are football people and they can all appreciate the difficult job Andy has got and what he is trying to achieve.

"He just needs time to get things right. Everybody uses Alex Ferguson as a great example of sticking by a manager."

County thought they had turned the corner a fortnight ago when they beat Bolton Wanderers in a 4-3 thriller with the last kick of the game.

But, as often happens when you are struggling at the bottom, ladyluck kicked them firmly in the teeth last weekend when Nottingham Forest striker Jack Lester performed his own impression of Robin Hood, bagging two late goals to snatch the points completely against the run of play.

Flynn insists, however, they must take the positives from that performance. "That was one of our best performances in my eight years at County -- everything went right except for the result," said Flynn.

"We thought our luck might have changed after the deflection for our first goal against Bolton.

"But that's how football can be sometimes. Forest had two shots on target in the whole game and ended up winning 2-1.

"So maybe we need to stop being so cavalier going forward and be more prepared to grit our teeth and grind out results."

A result at Ewood tomorrow would come as a vital shot in the arm for a squad currently ravaged by injury problems.

But, if County are to succeed, then Flynn believes it is absolutely imperative they keep the home crowd silent for as long as possible.

"From our point of view, we've got to go there and try and keep the crowd as quiet as possible, especially in the opening half an hour."