But before the Scotland under-21 midfielder could leave the field, it became apparent that Mikel Arteta was struggling with an injury and so Hughes was handed a reprieve while the young Spaniard left the field on a stretcher.
Two minutes later and Hughes took full advantage of his extra lifeline when he bulleted home a header to hand Rangers the lead.
A brace from Peter Lovenkrands in the closing stages of the match then added an extra sheen to the scoreline and meant Rangers again closed the gap behind Celtic at the top of the SPL table to five points.
With Martin O’Neill’s men ramming five past Dundee United earlier in the day, Rangers knew there would be no margin for error although admittedly their cause wasn’t helped when Zurab Khizanishvili and Nuno Capucho both called off with flu.
These latest casualties meant six first-team players were unavailable to McLeish and his squad has been stretched to the limits in recent weeks.
Despite those absentees, Rangers had still been expected to easily swat aside an inexperienced Aberdeen side who travelled south seeking their first win at Ibrox for more than 12 years.
In reality it was a lot closer than many had predicted.
The Light Blues did dominate play and were able to fashion out several clear-cut chances but they seemed intent at times of trying to score the perfect goal instead of settling for a grubby tap-in from a matter of yards.
Some of their one-touch passing play was exhilarating to watch but their attempts to thread pin-point passes through a packed Aberdeen defence were a bit like trying to push a bouncy castle through a letterbox.
Whenever they did break through the sea of red a combination of good goalkeeping and poor finishing kept the scoreline blank.
After 17 minutes Hughes and Michael Mols switched passes only for the young Scot to drag his shot wide before Shota Arveladze’s reverse pass picked out Mols whose trademark turn and shot was gathered by David Preece.
The goalkeeper then did well to pluck Arteta’s free kick out of the air meaning Gers were trooping up the tunnel at half-time without a goal to their name.
Chris Burke replaced the ineffective Emerson at half-time and the 19 year-old twice came within inches of converting crosses in front of goal.
Burke was equally as dangerous from wide on the right flank, flashing over a series of tempting centres that neither Arveladze and Mols were able to take advantage of.
Aberdeen’s plight took a turn for the worse just nine minutes after the re-start when teenage defender Zander Diamond was sent off for hauling down Arveladze as he bore down on goal.
Rangers seemed unable to take advantage of their extra man although Willie Young waved away claims for a penalty when a mazy run by Fernando Ricksen into the penalty box was abruptly halted by Scott Morrison.
There was no dispute, however, when Rangers took the lead after 75 minutes. Arveladze’s corner was returned to him wide on the right and his perfectly-weighted centre was headed home by Hughes.
Burke was continuing to torment the Dons defence and he skipped past four tame challenges on the right wing before crossing for Arveladze to head towards goal.
Only a great block from Preece denied the Georgian but Gers were to seal the points just two minutes from time when they netted two late goals.
Burke hared down the line to send over another dazzling centre for Peter Lovenkrands headed past Preece.
Two minutes later the same pair combined again, with the Dane toe-poking the ball home from a matter of yards after the goalkeeper had spilled Burke’s centre.
RANGERS (4-4-2): 1 Klos; 2 Ricksen, 25 Berg, 18 Ball, 16 Vanoli; 27 Hughes, 23 Arteta (Ostenstad 73), 4 Emerson (Burke 46), 26 Lovenkrands; 7 Arveladze, 10 Mols
Subs not used: McGregor, Ross, Smith
Booked: None
ABERDEEN (4-4-2): 1 Preece; 15 Rutkiewicz, 27 Diamond, 5 Anderson, 24 Morrison; 14 Clark, 29 Heikkinen (Tiernan 86), 4 Deloumeaux, 22 Muirhead; 9 Booth, 7 Hinds (Mackie 81)
Subs not used: Robertson, Sheerin, McNaughton
Booked: Deloumeaux (12), Anderson (77), Morrison (83)
Sent off: Diamond (54)
Man of the Match: Chris Burke