IF Darren McGregor spends more time than usual exchanging post-match handshakes with the Hibs players this afternoon there is a perfectly reasonable explanation.

The St Mirren central defender is a boyhood fan of the Easter Road side and is desperate to beg, steal or borrow a ticket for next month's William Hill Scottish Cup final at Hampden.

Hibs will have the player's best wishes for a match that could see them end 110 years of ignominy in Scotland's premier cup competition, in the first Edinburgh derby final since 1896, but there will be no conflict of loyalties this afternoon as the native of Leith aims to heap further relegation trouble upon Pat Fenlon's side.

"I supported them when I was younger and went to Easter Road many times as a kid and enjoyed it," said the 26-year-old. "I remember there were a couple of good days out at Hampden, but I am not sure I will get there this season. The ticket situation is quite strict so I will need to work my magic and try to get a ticket from somewhere. But I would like to go, it has been a long time, especially to do it against the bitter rivals.

"There is still an element of doubt as to whether they will stay in the league, but if they do win the cup I think the poor form in the league will be forgotten. A lot of my close friends and family will be going. I might ask one of their boys and see if one of them could slip me a ticket."

McGregor is only one of a surprising number of Easter Road connections in the St Mirren squad, with full-back David Van Zanten a former Easter Road player, captain Jim Goodwin a January transfer target of Fenlon's, and management team Danny Lennon and Tommy Craig also both former Hibees.

McGregor idolised Franck Sauzee as a kid and still slips the occasional "we" into his syntax when he talks about today's opponents. But there is enough at stake in his own career to lose himself with thoughts of the past.

Having shrugged off the stigma of being regarded as a "Second Division" player when Lennon took him from Cowdenbeath to St Mirren in his first season in Paisley, this campaign has been one of renewed frustration. After four reserve team games, and a couple of substitute appearances, it is only now he finally feels ready to start a first-team match after nine months out with a cruciate knee ligament injury.

It is tempting to think that McGregor could provide one of the final pieces of a jigsaw for a team who rely upon central defenders who are capable of building play effectively from the back, but whether Lennon sees any merit in taking the risk with just a handful of first-team games until the end of the season remains to be seen. St Mirren, who drew with Hibs' relegation rivals Dunfermline last week, may be safe but they are chasing seventh place, and what would be their best league finish for 25 years.

"For me Sauzee was the one, there was something about him, just his composure on the ball and he could strike a ball," McGregor said. "I wouldn't like to compare myself to him, but our philosophy here is to try to play football and I do try to incorporate that into my game. St Mirren pay my wages now. Although I do look for Hibs results and I wouldn't like to see them getting relegated that is all in the back of my mind. The manager doesn't want the season just to fizzle out because we are safe now."

While the rest of the squad get seven weeks off this summer, McGregor will limit himself to just two, attending the training ground with the physio and the sports scientist every couple of days.

"The emotions this season have been so contrasting from the season before," he said. "From doing so well in my first season in the SPL, to getting one of the worst injuries you can have and being so detached from the rest of the team, it was difficult to deal with. I was in the gym three or four hours a day, surrounded by four walls and it does make you appreciate the game more. I have had nine months taken away from my playing career, but I can't be bitter about that. I just need to do more on the field and off the field and just maximise my potential as a football player."

The time he has had to spend out of the game is tough considering McGregor has been such a late starter in the senior ranks. His big break came at the age of 24, after four years playing junior and working full-time in an independent clothes store in Edinburgh called Exile, serving a clientele which included some of his Hibs heroes.

"Everybody has drilled it into you at a young age if you had not made it by 14 or 15 you are not going to make the grade," McGregor said. "I thought I had missed the boat. I was working in the store and football was my hobby. A few Hibs boys used to go in, guys like Derek Riordan. I was chatting away to them not knowing that in 12 months' time I would be playing against a lot of them on the field. Some of them probably still get deja vu, and think 'there was that guy who was selling me jeans not so long ago'."