Owen Elding scored his first Hibernian goal and fellow recent arrival Ante Suto also netted as the Easter Road side responded to their Edinburgh derby defeat with a comfortable Scottish Premiership win over St Mirren.

Striker Elding, 19, joined in January from Sligo Rovers and got the big build-up from head coach David Gray before the game, asking the Irishman to bring "youthful energy" to his side.

He provided that and the opening goal on his first start, glancing in a superb header from Dan Barlaser's cross just before half-time.

It should have been 2-0 when Nicky Cadden hung up a cross to the back post, but Felix Passlack could only smack a post with his volley.

On Valentine's Day, Hibs almost gifted St Mirren an equaliser when Miguel Chaiwa misplaced a backpass and allowed Mikael Mandron a run at goal, but the striker saw his shot well saved by Raphael Sallinger.

The visitors were feeling generous, though, and repaid the favour when Shamal George spilled Cadden's cross straight to Suto, who bundled in from close range.

Suto, who joined on deadline day from Slaven Belupo, scored the winner against Dundee United on his debut 10 days ago and has made a lightning start to his Hibs career.

The hosts remain fifth but move just two points behind Motherwell, while St Mirren slip to 10th, only three points clear of Kilmarnock.

Elding was an unknown to most before his move to Hibs, but fans will clamour for him starting regularly after this performance.

Tipped for a "bright future" by his head coach before the game, he linked up well with Dane Scarlett and had more touches in the opposition box than any of his team-mates.

It was exactly the industry Gray asked for, and the type of grunt work Kieron Bowie was known for.

As for Suto, we've still not seen a great deal of the Croat but to score twice in your first three games shows good nous. While his finish against St Mirren wasn't as good as his header over Dundee United, he was in the right position.

The winter window is oft-maligned for being hard to do business in, but Gray is making light work of it with Passlack and Munashe Garananga - the latter missing through injury against the Buddies - both slotting into the starting XI quickly.

Alongside the new additions, Barlaser is really coming on to a game in midfield. Some of his passing is exquisite, he got the assist for Elding's goal and dominated the distribution stats for the hosts.

Stephen Robinson called it a "rollercoaster season" before the game. St Mirren's dip after the League Cup win seems to have left them without their stomach.

They struggled to deal with Hibs all day, and worryingly when they had chances, they didn't look likely to take them.

While most of their goals this season have come away from home, they have now failed to score in 12 of their 26 games. Only Dundee have a worse record.

The manager admitted his side are in a relegation battle - although he did say everyone in the bottom six is involved in that.

They did have a three-match unbeaten run - two draws and a 1-0 win over Hearts - but Robinson acknowledged they didn't play too well during that sequence.

The solid defence they were known for has evaporated while their attacking edge looks blunt, despite recent additions.

There's a lot on Robinson's plate, but do his side have the hunger for the fight?

Hibs head coach David Gray: "You're always looking for that reaction. Full credit to the players for their attitude and the way they approached the game.

"We moved the ball, created real opportunities, real patterns of play, and scored our goals at good times. For how dominant we were in the first half, it was important we got that goal.

"All in all, a really good performance, a clean sheet at home and something to really build on."

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "It was a poor game in the first half, nothing between the two teams. Nobody was creating and we don't stay with our runner from a set-play and that's poor.

"It's inexcusable. Everyone has jobs to do and we haven't done that. Second goal was exactly the same, we didn't defend it properly."

Hibs visit Celtic next Sunday (15:00 GMT) while St Mirren host Motherwell on Saturday night (19:30).