JIM Duffy praised Brechin's robust defending after his Morton side was held to a 1-1 draw at Glebe Park.
Darren Dods's side took the lead in the Ladbrokes Championship match in Angus on Saturday when Aberdeen loan player Connor McLennan netted early on.
The Cappielow club equalised soon afterwards, though, when McHugh slotted past keeper Graeme Smith.
But bottom-placed Brechin held on to pick up just their fourth point of the entire 2017/18 campaign.
The result was a blow to the Greenock club as Queen of the South beat Livingston away to move two points clear of them.
But Duffy said: "Sometimes you have to give the opposition credit for the way they defend. I thought Brechin’s defence was excellent. We threw everything at them but it wasn’t enough.
"Brechin did well in the first half, they played on the counter very well. In the second half we changed the shape a bit and brought Scott Tiffoney out to the left to give us more width. That seemed to work for us.
"We had loads of shots on goals, keeper saves, blocks, cleared off the line. We did everything to win the game, but we just couldn't get that final touch to get the ball over the line."
Duffy predicted that Tiffoney can be a key player for Morton in future and stressed his side was still in the hunt for a play-off place.
He said: "Scott has come through the system, he has a lot of potential. He has to muscle up a bit, because when players get tight to him, her's light.
"But he's very quick, very direct and he's got a delivery as well. He can play on either flank and we have high hopes for Scott. This kind of game was a good education for him."
Duffy continued: "St Mirren and Dundee United look as though they could be the two teams vying for the top spot, but there's probably another six clubs fighting for the play-offs and hopefully we would be one of them.
"On our day we're a decent side. This was a difficult day for us, Brechin make it difficult for you. They threw their bodies on the line and showed great spirit for a team at the bottom. It's a tough division."
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