The Scottish champions earned a 3-1 win over Saints in Paisley to allow them to reclaim top spot in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League, thanks to an own-goal by Marc McAusland and strikes from Steven Naismith and Kenny Miller.

They could have been ahead earlier in the game when Naismith and goalkeeper Craig Samson combined to put the ball in the back of the net shortly before the end of a goalless first half, only for the effort to be chalked off.

Thomson apparently deemed Naismith to have fouled Jure Travner in the build-up and Smith was willing to accept that explanation at a time when match officials have been increasingly under the spotlight.

He said: "The referee said there was a foul in the box, on another player but not on the goalkeeper, and that's that.

"It was hardly an injustice. Injustice is a strong word. If the referee sees another infringement and explains it, then that's fine."

Saints pulled a goal back late on when substitute Michael Higdon converted from the penalty spot after Steven Davis was ruled to have handled in the box.

Smith added: "With Davis it clearly hits him on the arm. We are not arguing about that."

The victory allowed Rangers to leapfrog Celtic back into pole position, even if the win was not quite as impressive or emphatic as the Hoops' 9-0 thrashing of Aberdeen 24 hours earlier.

Smith said: "In the first half we had a lot of possession without creating a great many opportunities.

"St Mirren were very well set up and it was difficult to get through them. I felt we needed to lift the pace of the game which we did after the interval and started to create a few opportunities and got the goals."

Smith credited Kyle Lafferty with providing a spark when he was introduced at half-time, although the Rangers manager believes all his players deserved credit for their second half display.

He said: "Kyle came on and played very well and was instrumental in a couple of the goals but I think we generally started with more purpose and played a bit quicker than we did in the first half, which I think was the most important factor in our win.

"That was our first real spell of concerted pressure. The main talking point at half-time was to raise the pace and hem St Mirren in if possible."

Saints boss Danny Lennon refused to be too downbeat about the defeat.

He said: "We will take more positives than negatives from the game and that's my message to the players.

"That's why Rangers and Celtic are so far ahead, they have quality players and the mentality to keep going for 90 minutes. Very rarely at this level do they switch off."