Hibernian eased to a comfortable win over frustrated St Mirren in Paisley to regain third place in the Scottish Premiership.

It was Josh Mulligan's calm side-footed finish that nudged the Edinburgh club ahead in a tight first half, with the Cadden twins - Nicky and goalscorer Chris - linking up to provide a second after the break before substitute Miguel Chaiwa made it three.

Hibs breathed an early sigh of relief when Marcus Fraser's header looked to have given St Mirren the advantage inside five minutes before being flagged offside following a video assistant referee (VAR) review.

It was David Gray's side who got the breakthrough when Jamie McGrath pounced on a poor pass out from the back from Buddies keeper Shamal George, which defender Richard King failed to control.

The former Aberdeen midfielder seized the loose ball to send in wonderful pass for Mulligan to cooly slot into the back of the net.

St Mirren thought they had drawn level after the break when Dan Nlundulu managed to hold off Jack Iredale to turn and send a powerful effort beyond Raphael Sallinger – but that was also chalked off for a marginal offside.

Chris Cadden added a second for the visitors by smashing past Shamal George, before substitute Chaiwa made it three.

It means Hibs, who briefly slipped to fourth after Falkirk's 1-1 draw with Livingston earlier on Saturday, move back into third going into the November international break.

This feels like a huge win for David Gray's side who have been somewhat hit-and-miss this season, and picking up their first clean sheet in four league matches will delight the manager.

Leaving Paisley with three points is not something that has come easy for Hibs in recent times – they had won just one of their previous six visits to the SMISA Stadium in the Scottish Premiership.

Buoyed by last Saturday's stellar Premier Sports Cup semi-final showing against Motherwell at Hampden – which saw St Mirren reach their first League Cup final in 12 years – the mood in Paisley was joyous ahead of Hibernian's visit.

But manager Stephen Robinson had urged his side to put those celebrations on ice for now to focus on becoming more "clinical" in the league, with the Buddies looking to secure a fourth consecutive top six finish this season.

And they will have felt somewhat unlucky to come away with nothing after two tight VAR decisions went against them. Ultimately, though, the Buddies - who scored four goals from four on target shots at Hampden - continue to look blunt at the top end of the pitch in the league.

The League Cup finalists have failed to score in five of their 11 Scottish Premiership matches. Only Aberdeen (six) have a worse record.

Hibs head coach David Gray told Premier Sports: "Delighted for Chris Cadden [to score] because it's something he's been wanting to add to his game.

"He's had a few disappointments this season but he deserves it.

"It's a massive, massive win. It's been very fine margins for us recently. Tonight, it went for us.

"They're very big moments in the game that went for us but all in all I thought we were excellent.

"You have to stand up to the physical challenge of St Mirren and we did that.

"I believe there's a lot more to come from this group. Some of our performances this season have been of a high standard but we may have let ourselves down in certain moments."

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "We equalise, we go in front, it changes the game completely, so whether they're onside or not you hope VAR's got it right. Which would be a surprise to be fair.

"I haven't seen anything back. I got told there was two sets of lines drawn for the first [disallowed] goal. One that looked like the ball hadn't been played forward, which means he's onside.

"Whether that's true or not, I don't know. But if it is, I find it incredible.

"I can only control the things that we can control.

"I thought Hibs deserved to win because they kept delivering balls in the box, they kept winning second balls, which allowed them to express themselves. I didn't think we did."

St Mirren host Celtic in their next Scottish Premiership game after the international break on Saturday 22 Nov (20:00 GMT), when Hibernian also welcome Dundee to Easter Road (15:00).