There is a solid belief amongst most football managers that over the course of a season the breaks that go for you are levelled out by those that go against you. There was a general acceptance in the Hibernian camp that for much of the first half of the season Hibernian were enjoying a positive balance on the little breaks that often make the difference between losing, drawing or winning - and if that was true it is equally the case that in the second half so far the balance has been redressed.

But then again is the other popular belief that you make you own breaks both positive and negative, and on that basis Hibernian need to return to making some more positive contributions to their aims of European qualification, as all around them have closed and turned that challenge into something of a dog-fight through the final 11 games. It is possibly also the case that John Hughes will be grateful that at most his side can expect to face St Johnstone only once more this season, for there can be little doubt that no other team - including the Old Firm - has posed more questions of his players that the Perth outfit.

For the second time in their 4 meetings with the Perth side Hibernian got off to the perfect start, taking the lead through a Anthony Stokes penalty with less than three minutes on the clock. At that point the mood was lifted around Easter Road Stadium, there was a feeling that Hibernian could push on - but once again the Perth side had other plans. As they have done in every meeting of the sides, St Johnstone harried the Hibernian midfield and pressed the home back-four. There was a greater resistance this time than had been the case 10 days earlier, but as long as the match was balanced on a single goal there remained the feeling that the visitors would take something from the game.

For all that on opportunities created Hibernian did carve out those most likely to result in goals, a point immediately made by John Hughes: "Throughout the game I thought we had the better chances and on the counter attack we had bits and pieces - NIsh passed one up, Riordan passed one up and I am a little disappointed that we didn't see that game out. But in terms of what the players gave me and in terms of trying to play the game properly I couldn't fault the boys."   There was certainly a great deal of effort being put in by Hibernian, and it might have been just enough to get them back to winning ways but for a break going the way of the visitors in the closing stages.

There was a general acceptance in the home camp that the penalty awarded to St Johnstone was fair enough by the letter of the law - from the press box however the view was that it was more than a little soft, there being no clear and obvious attempt by Liam Miller to handle a ball kicked up onto arms raised to retain balance rather than gain advantage: "It was a soft one but if the hands are above the waist - and I think that is how they do it nowadays - then it was a penalty. I thought it was very, very soft but that's football, sometimes these things go for you and sometimes they go against you. It is swings and roundabouts and it will even itself out across the season.

"In terms of what the boys gave me in effort and team shape, it was very good when playing against a big strong, physical St Johnstone side who like to fight for it and play off of seconds. I thought we combated that quite well and I thought Sol Bamba was outstanding - although in the last ten minutes he was a little bit ropey. After their goal we maybe remained a little too deep when we needed to get up the park and get at them, but we tried to play it the right way on a difficult surface. Throughout the game - on the counter attack - I felt we could have put the game beyond them but if you don't do that then it can come back to get you and it did."

Two points from five games have now left Hibernian dropping back to fourth and with a real battle on their hands with Dundee United, Motherwell and Hearts all now in the mix - and with three games in hand on this form St Johnstone can't be counted out either. The manager however trusts his players to be up for a fight to the end: "It is going to be like that between now and the end of the season. I have seen plenty in that dressing room, the way they train, the way they conduct themselves, there is a spirit and a character in there that no matter what we get this year they are prepared to roll up the sleeves and get stuck in. It will be nip and tuck between now and the end of the season so hopefully we can keep going and digging in and maybe a wee bit of luck will start to come our way and we will pick up a couple of wins."