Chris Burke`s 86th-minute goal earned a 1-1 draw Blues scarcely deserved against an unfortunate Barnsley side who had taken the lead at St Andrews with a wonder strike from Jacob Butterfield on 33 minutes.
However, Blues` strong finish masked what was a sloppy performance littered with misplaced passes and a lack of creativity,
"It was relief in the end because the first-half performance wasn't good," said Blues boss Hughton.
"It was probably as poor as we have been in the period of time I've been here.
"They are a team in really good form and it showed. It was going to be a case of having to match them because we were not good enough on the ball."
"It was a wonderful strike for their goal but it was most definitely a foul, a blatant foul, leading up to the shot.
"I was very surprised in this day and age, and looking at the other bookings, that he did not pull that one up as a foul.
"That aside, they deservedly had the lead in the first half on the balance of play."