St Mirren manager Oran Kearney admitted it was "back to square one" for his side ahead of Wednesday's match against Hibernian.

Saints went into Saturday's game against Hamilton hoping to record back-to-back victories for the first time since March but, instead, the 3-1 loss means they now trail 10th-placed Accies by five points.

He said: "It's fair to say [we've taken a step back]. We got close to Hamilton again where they were just a couple of points away from us, and so to let them move five points clear again means we are back to square one and have to go chasing them again. That makes Wednesday's game very important.

"Normally by a Monday – win, lose or draw – you can let go of a Saturday result and move on. This week it's taken me until Tuesday to get over it. I still wasn't quite myself on Monday as it was a tough one to take after winning the previous weekend."

The trip to Easter Road sees Kearney pit his wits against another Northern Irishman in Neil Lennon.

He added: "When I applied for this job first time around (in the summer) I had a good chat with Neil and since then I've had a couple of conversations with him. He's a good guy.

"Hibs are quite a strong side, particularly at home, so it will be a big challenge for us. But the key thing for us is that in recent weeks we have shown we have a performance in us."

Kearney will be without the services of Simeon Jackson (suspended) and Cody Cooke (injured) meaning Danny Mullen will likely be pushed into action in attack.

The manager added: "Cody is struggling just now and Simeon is suspended but Danny has been kicking his heels for a while and has been keen to get back out there."