The Reds head into this weekend's clash with The Cherries having taken seven points from their last three matches and Hughton expects to see another strong performance from his side as they aim to put further distance between themselves and the Sky Bet Championship's bottom three.
Speaking ahead of the game, he said: "It's a big game. On the back of a good run I'd like to think we're in a better place now than when we last played them on a night where I thought we did ok. Irrespective of their recent change of manager, Bournemouth have some very good players and they are a team who will certainly be pushing for promotion come the end of the season.
"We've picked up some excellent results over a period of time but at the same time, teams around us in the league have also been getting good results. While we haven't moved up the table, we have closed the gap quite significantly on the five or six teams above us and we need to make sure that gap closes even further over the course of the next few games.
"We would obviously like to finish this season as strongly as we can but we've got a tough period of games coming up, including a lot of midweek fixtures, and that will test the entire squad. We've got good competition for places though and we will need that but for us it's about finishing this season as strongly as we can and getting ready for another campaign next season."
Bournemouth arrive at The City Ground in high spirits themselves following back-to-back wins over Birmingham and Burnley, the latter in the FA Cup fifth round, but Hughton may have a couple of extra bodies to call upon as he looks to inflict The Cherries' fifth league defeat in six matches.
He said: "Bournemouth have got a good work ethic, a way of playing and players who can make the difference on any given day. You can't always play well in matches and Bournemouth have players who can turn the tide their way in games where they're not performing so well. They're a top side in this division and I've not doubts they'll be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.
"They've made a couple of slight changes in formation and team selection but not ones that Jason hadn't played before and they've got a very strong and flexible squad to utilise. I don't think Jonathan has changed anything dramatically since he came in but they're on a good run and they'll arrive here full of confidence.
"If I'm thinking back from the last game, possibly the only inclusion in our squad would be Lewis Grabban who trained today and Sammy Ameobi who might train tomorrow but those are the only two who I think would be able to return to the squad out of those who missed the Wycombe game last weekend."