Jack Ross today introduced himself to a St Mirren squad that, on current league standings, is regarded as the worst in the Ladbrokes Championship.

However, the atmosphere in the dressing room is unlikely to correspond with their status as the team that occupies tenth place, especially after they picked up a morale-boosting 2-1 Irn-Bru Cup victory at Hibernian on Saturday.

All of a sudden, the Paisley club’s predicament does not look so bleak.

A first win in five, courtesy of goals from Stevie Mallan and David Clarkson after Alex Harris had given the hosts the lead, has propelled the Saints into the quarter-finals of the competition and, coupled with Ross’s appointment, the club are again looking to the future with cautious optimism.

“I think it’s exciting times for the new gaffer and it’s exciting times for the boys,” said one-time Motherwell and Scotland player Clarkson.

“I’ve been involved in the game so long and it can change so quickly, hopefully this is the start of it.

“We’ve been working hard, it’s a great bunch of boys and hopefully this result can kick-start the results to come.

“It’s a young manager coming in that has done well. He will be used to working with young boys as well as having the experienced boys there.”

Despite being unveiled as Alex Rae’s successor last Tuesday, Ross was more than 300 miles away on Saturday serving his notice period with Alloa, whom he led to a 4-2 victory over Welsh side Bala Town.

Newly appointed assistant manager James Fowler watched on from the directors’ box as head of youth development Allan McManus took control for the last time.

“We knew James Fowler was going to be there but everyone wants to impress every week,” added Clarkson. “Of course, with the new manager coming in there is competition for places and everyone wants to impress, and wants to start.

“He’s probably looking at it thinking, ‘I’m on to a good thing here’; the desire the boys showed, the character and drive to stay in the game – because at 1-0 the heads could easily have gone down.”

The small band of travelling fans had that all too familiar feeling when Harris put Hibs ahead in the 37th minute, the winger taking advantage of a Kyle Hutton slip to fire past Jamie Langfield at the near post.

Stevie Mallan demonstrated his expertise from dead-ball situations when he swept a stunning 25-yard free-kick into the top corner of the net.

Clarkson forced home an 82nd-minute winner, his deflected shot from inside the area rolling past Ofir Marciano.

It was a mixed afternoon for Harris. Making only his third appearance of the season, the Hibs winger netted his first goal since his memorable 2013 Scottish Cup semi-final strike against Falkirk.

“While it’s good getting the goal, it’s obviously a disappointing day,” said the 22-year-old.

“As a team player the result is the most important thing week-in, week-out. It’s my first goal at Easter Road and when I scored I hoped it would have been a day to remember, but it’s all about the result. There’s frustration there.

“I want to be working hard and making sure I give the manager a headache when he selects the team. If I’m not playing next week (against Raith Rovers) I’ll be disappointed but I’ll keep trying to work hard.”

Hibernian: Marciano; Gray, Forster, McGregor, Hanlon; Harris (Holt 84), Fyvie, McGeouch, Boyle (Cummings 69), Shinnie (Bartley 69), Keatings Substitutes not used: Laidlaw, Stevenson, Eardley, Graham

St Mirren: Langfield, Naismith, Baird, MacKenzie, Irvine; Walsh (Gallagher 74), Quinn (Clarkson 63), Hutton, Morgan; Mallan, Sutton (Shankland 82) Substitutes not used: Willison, Whyte, O’Keefe, McDonald

Referee: William Collum

Attendance: 4,393