The closer we get to Christmas with Hibernian still battling away in the top four of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League, the greater you would expect would be the pressure on John Hughes and his players - but if that is true, it's certainly not showing. In many minds it seems being held to a third consecutive away draw is a negative, that however could merely be a reflection on the esteem the current side is being held.

Certainly the one place where pressures are not being applied is within the Hibernian squad itself, not so much feet being kept firmly on the ground as their never having left it in the first place. The attitude being shown post-match in Paisley on Saturday by John Rankin is pretty typical of that being displayed by the entire squad: "I think it was a wee bit early to be talking about splitting the Old Firm," the midfielder said, reflecting on yet more questions about the draw being seen as a setback to that ambition.  I think we would settle for third or fourth - but you don't set your sights on second place or anything of that sort, what you want is to finish as high up the table as you possibly can. We are sitting third just now and there were a few games when we could have gone second if we had the right result. But our target has to be third place this season - and to get that European spot would be great for us but there are a few good teams all challenging for that between now and the end of the season."

John Hughes had warned his side exactly what they could expect against St Mirren, and Rankin was certainly not surprised by the tough challenge he and his team-mates had to deal with: "We have been here before to be honest - last season we came here and got a point, and had Rangers to play to get into the top six - so we looked like we had blown it. I don't think a point away to St Mirren is that bad a point to be honest, as I said we have been here before and it is a hard place to come. St Mirren maybe had not won a game for a while, but they had not lost many either. I think if we had been able to hold out until half time we probably would have won the game."

The first half lead was gained through a piece of typical genius from Derek Riordan, so distant from goal and wide on the left that the home defence had every right not to sense the danger. Those in the press area fortunate enough to view the strike from a perfect angle behind the ball could see just where it was going to end up from the moment it left his right boot - Rankin had a pretty good view himself: "From where I was it was a great finish. You know he is capable of that and we see it every day at training, he is a great finisher. It is just unfortunate that the shine was taken off his goal by a simple floated ball into our penalty box that we don't deal with - and there is no one picking up the man who heads it in. It was a terrible goal to concede right on the stroke of half time."

While the second half matched the first in terms of honest effort from both sides, the elements took a grip on proceedings - in the end the sense was that players and supporters alike where just glad to get back to the transport home: "The weather played a massive part, St Mirren had a lot of chances in the first half and the wind and the rain played a big part. We have been here before and been bullied in games, which happened at Hamilton earlier on in the season when they dictated the game and we struggled.

"The St Mirren game was another test of our character to see if we could stand up to it. I felt we did that in the second half and you see a few characters coming out and a few boys getting louder in the changing room as well because the spirit is starting to kick in."   It's a spirit that may well see Hibernian through the difficult times ahead, as for league position - we can talk about that in May 2010.

View extended highlights of St Mirren v Hibernian via http://www.hibernianfc.tv - the only place where you can see all the action, all the time.