The Magpies captain has been occupying a position behind lone front-man Andy Carroll as Danish forward Peter Lovenkrands has dropped out of the team.
Hughton favoured the tactic away from home in last season's Championship-winning campaign, but he has also been following that blueprint at St James' Park in the Premier League.
The method has backfired in home defeats to Blackpool and Stoke in recent weeks to lead to criticism of the use of Nolan, however, there are no plans for a change of selection.
"Kevin is a big, big player for us. He is key to what we do," Hughton told The Journal.
"What he does for us is play in the important role either off the front man or in the midfield and he will always get into goalscoring positions - that is what makes him important.
"Even in a very tight game against Stoke, he was in that position to get our best opportunity of the second half. I have no worries about a player like Kevin."
There have been calls for new-boy Hatem Ben Arfa to be offered a free role for Sunday's trip to Manchester City, although that would seem unlikely.
But Hughton is prepared to consider changes in personnel ahead of the Eastlands outing, with the likes of Sol Campbell and Shola Ameobi in contention after impressing in the Carling Cup victory at Chelsea.
"Of course, we have a lot of players pushing for a starting place against Manchester City, which is a very positive thing," Hughton said.
"A lot of players come into my thinking and everyone has the opportunity to stake their claim in training during the week.
"We have a good squad and the game against Chelsea proves that we have players who can come in and do a job for us."
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