Given time, Hibs boss Marink Reedijk hopes to turn this lot into a well-oiled machine, capable of competing at the top end of Scotland’s top flight, and with some style to boot.

Until then, the Dutchman will just have to make do with earning a single point. His first point, no less.

Tasked with picking up the pieces following David Gray’s departure, Reedijk’s start to life at Easter Road couldn’t have gone much worse.

Three games played, three games lost. And while the 34-year-old has talked of seeing signs of progress in recent weeks, the evidence didn’t back him up. The supporters certainly haven’t seen much in the way of improvement.

Coming into this midweek affair, his side were rooted to the bottom of the table. And, to be frank, that doesn’t lie. From back to front, they have resembled a broken team for most of the campaign.

Credit where it’s due, this was far better. And at least it was enough to see them end the evening looking down at Kilmarnock below them. But there is still so much work to be done. The lack of cutting edge in particular is glaring.

Perhaps they’ll find it by the time they line up against Hearts at Hampden on Sunday afternoon. Win that and Reedijk will feel a whole lot better about things.

St Mirren came roaring out the blocks here and passed up a glorious chance to take an early lead with less than two minutes on the clock.

Declan John left Felix Passlack for dead down the left-hand side before picking out Luke Thomas at the back post. The 27-year-old took a touch to steady himself, then promptly fell on his backside as he got set to pull the trigger.

Nicky Cadden was a surprise name on the visitors’ team sheet, having not started a single Premiership game all season, and Hibs looked to send him scampering along the left touchline at every opportunity.

He had the beating of Calvin Ramsay in the early stages but unfortunately his team-mates weren’t quite on the same wavelength.

To describe the first half of this contest as poor would in fact be fairly complimentary. It was that bad. For neither side to register a shot on target in 45 minutes takes some doing.

Hibs at least tried to make something happen and moved the ball around with precision, and there are positive signs that the Miguel Chaiwa-Joe Newell partnership in the middle may have some promise going forward.

However, the final ball just wasn’t there. It’s been a recurring theme, long before Reedijk rocked up.

St Mirren were miles off it. Indeed, it was hard to recall if Craig McLeish’s men strung five passes together. John’s fierce strike from the angle of the area seven minutes before the break ended up flicking the opposite corner flag before rolling out for a throw. A perfect illustration of the quality on show.

Newell may have felt he should have hit the target from 25 yards immediately following the restart after pouncing on a woeful ball out of defence from the hosts. With Jacob Chapman scampering back to his line, the midfielder curled wide.

Josh Mulligan’s glancing header was deflected over the bar after getting on the end of another fine Cadden delivery, with Owen Elding then firing over from 18 yards as the Edinburgh side probed for an opener.

And they got their rewards with 14 to play. St Mirren failed to deal with a looping Cadden corner, with the ball eventually dropping to Marko Ivezic, who poked home from five yards. You couldn’t say it wasn’t deserved.

The Buddies came within inches of levelling things up two minutes later. Sub Jake Thomas showed wonderful feet to get to the byline before driving across goal. Samuel Ramos couldn’t get a proper connection at the back post.

This Hibs team have a nasty habit of shooting themselves in the foot, and they duly obliged once again a minute later, with Jason Kerr diverting into his own net after a spot of pinball in the box from a corner.

The hosts had a chance to steal it at the death, but Thomas could only fire straight at Raphael Sallinger from the tightest of angles.

ST MIRREN (3-4-3): Chapman 5: Fraser 6, Gogic 6, Fieldson; Ramsay 5.5, Carr 6 (Taylor 80), Phillips 6.5, John 6; Thomas 5 (Nsio 59), Sule 4 (Young 71), Mochrie 5 (Ramos 71). Booked: Mochrie, Gogic, Phillips, Taylor, Nsio. Manager: Craig McLeish.

HIBERNIAN (4-2-3-1): Sallinger 6; Passlack 6, Kerr 6, Ivezic 6, Mayor 6; Chaiwa 6.5 (Abdulai 68), Newell 7; McGrath 5, Mulligan 6, CADDEN 8 (Matondo 79); Elding 5. Booked: Mulligan, Abdulai. Manager: Marink Reedijk.

Referee: Ross Hardie.

Attendance: 6,573.