WHETHER truth or wild rumour, talk of Celtic's alleged interest in Jonny Hayes filled the air before kick-off at the Caledonian Stadium.

The mercurial Inverness Caledonian Thistle winger is out of contract in the summer and certainly, at his fleet-footed best, looks quite capable of playing at a higher level.

If reports of Neil Lennon's supposed interest in the Dubliner were an audible topic of discussion among supporters on Saturday, Dougie Imrie kept the chatter alive afterwards.

Prompted on the subject of Hayes, Imrie gave his close friend glowing appraisal. "I actually went for dinner with Jonny on Tuesday when he was down in Glasgow – and he made me pay," said the St Mirren forward. "If he does get a move to Celtic, he can buy me dinner. In fact, he can take me on holiday. He is definitely one who can go on to play at a higher level.

"He has come up into the SPL in the last couple of years and proven his quality. He has tremendous pace and bags of ability so it would no surprise if teams like Celtic are looking at him.

"I wish him all the very best for the future. It would be a massive loss for Inverness but every team loses players and replaces them. I'm sure, if Jonny goes, Terry Butcher and Maurice Malpas will find another. If he stays, they will be delighted."

Butcher insisted there had been no contact about his winger, and seemed intent on keeping it that way – "I'll be turning my phone off tonight so if anyone tries to contact me over the weekend they will be disappointed," said the Inverness manager, who is expected to lose midfielder Lee Cox to Swindon Town today with the npower League Two club understood to have agreed a fee of £75,000 for the former Leicester City player.

Inverness still have Hayes, though. For now, at least. The Irishman offered his club a rare moment of respite during a first half controlled by St Mirren but his cutback to Shane Sutherland ended in the young striker's shot being saved. Not to be outdone by his former Inverness team-mate, Imrie also floated in a fine cross which Steven Thomson could only direct at Ryan Esson, the Inverness goalkeeper.

Imrie insisted the scoreless draw was a fair outcome despite the hosts spurning three very decent second-half chances. "Obviously, we would have liked to have taken the three points, but it was a good team performance," Imrie said.

"I thought it was an entertaining game and a draw was fair in the end. Inverness hit the post and we had a couple of good opportunities to score too. I thought the lads were excellent. Inverness have been on a great run and it was good to come here and put in a performance."

The 28-year-old, who spent two seasons at Inverness, is thrilled to be back in the top flight after joining from Hamilton Academical earlier this month. "The SPL is where everyone wants to be and I'm no different. I'm just thoroughly enjoying being back there with St Mirren," said Imrie.

"In the first division, the games are a lot quicker – 100 miles an hour. In the SPL, you get more time on the ball to do your stuff. I just want to play my part now in helping St Mirren reach the top six."

With his club just two points below Aberdeen, that ambition is not beyond the Paisley side, although that is perhaps mitigated by the fact they have won just once in their last 10 matches in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League. That is an inauspicious record even if that win came against Rangers.

Such form may be concerning Danny Lennon privately, but the St Mirren manager was more inclined to endorse his side's efforts against a physical Inverness side on Saturday. "It was important we didn't lose today," he said. "The physicality of Inverness is a big factor for them and we wanted to get back into an unbreakable, unshakeable mentality.

"I thought we handled that side of the game well. You could say we were lucky, but you take the breaks when they come."