Former Newcastle ace providing Hibs team-mates with Premier League education, advice and inspiration

Premier League veteran Dwight Gayle’s contribution to Hibs this season goes far beyond the four goals – including an Edinburgh derby winner – and the couple of assists bagged since his belated introduction to the first team. If there was a stat that measured a player’s ability to improve the guys around him, Gayle would be afforded top marks. Ten out of ten. No notes, as they say.

From youngsters lining up to heed his words of advice, to even an experienced old pro like Martin Boyle enthusing about the lessons he’s learning from the former Newcastle, Crystal Palace, West Brom and Derby striker, Gayle’s influence on the squad has been remarkable. As manager David Gray understands only too well.

Hailing the 35-year-old, who has already effectively pre-announced his retirement at the end of this season, for helping Boyle hit the goal trail in recent games, Gray said: “Yeah, I think he definitely benefits from it. Also Boyle playing in a different position now as well, so rather than playing wider like he was at the start of the season, he's playing further forward.

“And playing with someone like Gayle who has played at the very top of the game, I mean, even his decision making, where to run and where not to run. That means Boyle probably moving off the back of that - an opposite movement between the two of them.

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“Knowing that you've got someone who makes the right decisions more often really benefits. Then if you look at Boyle playing with the confidence he's got, he's a huge threat - especially on that last line where he's pacing his acceleration.

“I have touched on this a lot; about how important it is to bring in the right type of people. And I think back to the summer when we brought in Gayle, and we brought in Junior Hoilett.

“Yes, their contribution on the pitch is fantastic but it's also off the pitch, what they do every single day. I think back to what Junior does with Rudi Molotnikov and having someone like that that he can really look up to and learn from.

“Strikers can learn from Gayle. And I think that's brilliant to have that in your squad. Being the characters they are, they want to help the younger players as well and they set that standard every day, which is great for the group.”

Asked if Gayle was always chipping in advice or simply answering questions when asked, Gray revealed: “He’s quite proactive in terms of how he trains. He's very vocal on the training pitch as you would expect and he's such a good professional.

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“You want the experienced boys to coach within the training sessions as well. It can't just be the one voice all the time, as long as they're saying the right things and we're encouraging the right things to be happening all the time.

“Gayle is very good with that, and he's very good at educating younger players round about him. He demonstrates, he leads by example on the training pitch every single day and then, when you see him in the games even when he's not playing, the encouragement you get from him is great.”

Hibs take on Ross County this afternoon on the back of an impressive run of just one defeat in 11 games. The fact that they’ve scored nine goals in their last three fixtures has definitely helped the Edinburgh side climb into the top six AND progress into the fifth round of the Scottish Cup.

“Confidence is key to that,” said Gray, the former fullback adding: “I think even early on in the season when we weren't getting the results, we were always creating chances.

“If I think back to some of my post-match interviews early in the season, I found myself repeating myself a lot. I repeatedly said I'd be a lot more concerned if we weren't creating the chances.

“We knew we needed to be more clinical, and I think that's something we've demonstrated now. Three goals in the last three games is a real positive, because it means you’re really hard to beat.

“The strikers are contributing, and we're getting goals from all over the pitch as well. We need to keep that level of consistency up and keep creating the chances.”