"The important thing was to get in the hat. We plugged away. We had to try and unlock the door and at times we found it very difficult," Hughes said immediately after the 1-0 win at Ewood Park.
"Although we huffed and puffed a few times, we still deserved to go through. We kept probing and got our reward.
"Leicester came here with a gameplan to get lots of people behind the ball.
"For long periods we couldn't work it out and get that little opening we needed to create chances.
"We tried to get some momentum in the game - that was what was lacking. It was stop-start all afternoon.
"The second half was a little bit better and we created the better chances, although there weren't many of them.
"Towards the end of game the fitness levels made a difference.
"I've not seen the penalty but the lads felt it was a penalty.
"We probably should have had a goal earlier when the play was brought up a little bit quickly and we had another genuine claim for a penalty.
"Its exciting times. We've enjoyed the journey up to this point and we'll get a day out in Cardiff."