Hughes was sent from the sidelines in the humbling back in December 2013 in which his side finished the game with nine men.
The Welshman was still able lead Stoke to their best Premier League finish in the last campaign as they edged out Newcastle by a point to claim ninth place.
"I think we are eight to 10 points better off than we were this time last season. That is hugely encouraging for us," Hughes said.
"We want to improve even further and we are in a better position now to go on and beat last year's tally. We are where we hoped to be.
"We have bigger targets and bigger ambitions this season. We are moving along quite nicely, but there is still a lot of work ahead.
"Newcastle have had a change in manager and they had a good performance and result last time out. It won't be easy going up there.
"We are playing well at the moment, though, and there is no reason why we can't go there and record a positive result."
Newcastle interim head coach John Carver earned his first win since taking over from Alan Pardew as they cruised to a 3-0 success at Hull City last weekend.
Carver's men have disappointed in their last two home games, however, drawing 3-3 with Burnley before slumping to a 2-1 defeat against Southampton.
And Carver is keen to change their recent home form and ensure that St James' Park is an intimidating arena for visiting teams.
"We've had a some work on the training ground this week and now want to go back to St. James' Park and make this place a fortress," Carver said.
Midfielder Cheick Tiote will play for Ivory Coast in Sunday's Africa Cup of Nations final, and goalkeeper Rob Elliot (thigh), Steven Taylor (Achilles) and Ryan Taylor (knee) are all on the sidelines.
Hughes is hopeful that Jon Walters (knee) will be able to feature, but Peter Odemwingie remains unavailable with a knee issue of his own.
