Hughton spent three years as Jol's assistant at Tottenham and admits that period formed a vital part of his managerial education.
"Martin is a very good coach and manager and it was no surprise that after leaving Tottenham he went to Hamburg and Ajax," said Hughton.
"He is someone I have a lot of time for. In my time at Tottenham I probably worked closer with him than any of the other managers. We got on very well.
"I certainly learned from him, the way he sets up his teams and what he wants from them, the relationships he has with players. I learned an enormous amount from him.
"Fulham are a very well established Premier League team now. They have had to do it on a certain budget, very similar to ourselves.
"They have been able to develop year in and year out and as a club we can aspire to that too.
"Knowing Martin he won't be satisfied. He will want and expect them to finish higher than they are."
Fulham were 5-0 winners when the sides met at Craven Cottage in the opening game of the season but both teams now find themselves at the wrong end of the Premier League table, level on 28 points.
Hughton says midfielders Anthony Pilkington and Alex Tettey are "touch and go" for Saturday with hamstring and knee problems respectively, but reported a clean bill of health after his players returned from the midweek internationals.
Wes Hoolahan came off the bench to score his first goal for the Republic of Ireland in their 2-0 win over Poland and Hughton hopes the playmaker will lift the spirits of his side.
"I'm delighted for him," said Hughton. "He's been on the radar for some time. It's always a special moment getting that first goal and he'll be on a high at the moment.
"He does have wonderful ability. Can he add more goals here? Yes he can, but the biggest facet of his game is his creativity and the fact that he keeps the ball for us."
Loan signing striker Kei Kamara, who has arrived from Sporting Kansas City in MLS, trained for the first time on Thursday morning with his new team-mates but is unlikely to feature against Fulham.
"He's done well but we will assess him overnight and tomorrow. He can play anywhere across the forward line and scores goals and makes assists and will be a valuable asset but he is a little bit behind in match practice," said Hughton.
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