Ian Murray warns Hibs team-mates they must not under-estimate St Mirren after win over Celtic

• Ian Murray

All too aware of the dangers which so often confront a side after a notable result against either half of the Old Firm, Murray insisted John Hughes' players can deal a further psychological blow to their Euro rivals.

As goals from Anthony Stokes and Danny Galbraith eased Hibs to their first Celtic Park win in almost five years, results elsewhere conspired to return the Easter Road outfit to third place in the SPL table, seeing them not only leapfrog Dundee United again but put further clear water between themselves and Capital foes Hearts.

It was, as Murray admitted in something of an understatement, a "good night's work", the utility star then making his intentions clear as Hibs aim for a third League win in the space of just eight days.

He said: "There's no point in us having gone to Celtic Park and winning only to let it slip tomorrow. Psychologically it can only help us but in the same way it will, perhaps, have dented a few teams round about us.

"Results in other games went our way on Wednesday night but now we have to keep our home form going. We've done well at Easter Road apart from a couple of dodgy performances but we know St Mirren will give us another tough game.

"They came here on the opening day of the season and were a little unlucky to lose after having had a man sent off and then through there we were a bit fortunate to come away with a point.

"We know exactly what they are all about, they've got big strikers and big defenders but we have to hope we perform as we did against Hamilton last week.

"We can't let ourselves down. We must win the game, we are at home, the favourites, we are full of confidence and we'll have our own fans, who have been superb all season, behind us so it's up to us to get them up for the game."

While much had been made in some quarters that Hibs had failed to beat, until their visit to the east end of Glasgow, any of the SPL's top five sides, Murray shrugged off that statistic pointing out it was their results against other sides which had fired them to within two points of second-placed Celtic.

He said: "Outwith Dundee United and ourselves I think the club occupying fifth and sixth place has changed so often that, technically, we've beaten sides who have been up there.

"For example, we went to Motherwell when they were fourth and enjoyed a good win. But it is our results against the other teams which have taken us so far up the table, points which help make the win against Celtic a big bonus.

"The table doesn't lie."

Murray also feels the 5-1 hammering of Hamilton and now the win over Celtic have answered those who rushed to write Hibs off after they managed just one point from three games against Rangers, Hearts and United as their unbeaten run of 12 matches was brought to an end.

He said: "People were saying our bubble had burst but I told the lads that if that was our blip for the season then it was a great blip, just three games. If it was seven, eight or nine you might find yourselves in a bit of bother.

"But we'd been saying to ourselves all season that we could play better, everything finally clicked against Hamilton and if we didn't click particularly well at Celtic Park I think we showed we aren't a side which is going to fold.

"I know the die-hard fans will always go to places like Celtic Park but I did know a couple who were swithering whether to go. I felt a bit sorry for them when we lost a goal after just a few minutes, most probably thought that was it, Celtic would win.

"But we dug in, rode our luck at times and I was truly delighted for our supporters that they went home celebrating a great win."

While, as boss Hughes has been saying all season, Hibs have the firepower – Anthony Stokes and Derek Riordan have 24 goals between them – to score in any game, Murray believes that undoubted threat is complemented by a decent defensive record.

He said: "I think we are pretty solid at the back.

"We are capable of grinding out results as we showed up at Aberdeen the other week.

"We are always capable of scoring a goal. Stokesy and Deeks have fantastic goal-scoring ability. We've been scoring lots with Colin Nish, Merouane Zemmama and Benji all netting along with others, while Danny got off the mark with that winner he'll always remember against Celtic.

"It was tremendous to see Danny score. He's had such bad luck with injuries but he's worked really hard ever since he joined the club, in the gym morning, noon and night to build himself up.

"He's dedicated to making it as a professional and he thoroughly deserved his goal.

"Even so, I feel we can give our strikers better service, just think what the likes of Stokesy can do when we really hit form!"

Although Hibs lie just two points behind Celtic, Hughes insisted the ultimate goal remains third place and a spot in next season's Europa League, one which Murray is desperate to achieve as he recalled the epic UEFA Cup victory over AEK Athens.

Trailing 2-0 from the first leg in Greece, Alex McLeish's team came within a hair's breadth of causing a major upset as Paco Luna scored twice and missed a glorious chance to claim a hat-trick in the dying seconds, the match finally finishing 3-2 in Hibs favour – with David Zitelli scoring the winner – only to go out on aggregate.

Nevertheless, it remains one of the nights to remember as far as Murray is concerned.

The former Rangers player said: "I've been lucky enough to play Champions League football but even thinking of the AEK matches sends the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end. It was a fantastic occasion. I can still remember Alex McLeish's team talk after the first leg over there when, even although we'd lost 2-0, he gave us the belief that we could still go through against what was a very talented side.

"We were unlucky not to qualify but to go back into that arena with this team would be fantastic.

"As you get older you appreciate it all the more, European nights at Easter Road under the floodlights are always special.

"We've put ourselves in a very good position to get there again, let's hope we can do it."