Hibs ace Gayle a 90-minute player as ex-Newcastle and Crystal Palace veteran digs deep for new team

As Hibs ask their players to go to the well again today, not everyone who blasted their bodies through the full festive fixture card will be feeling absolutely 100 per cent. But for one Premier League veteran who claims to be on the brink of “breaking down” in this final season of professional football, the adrenaline of playing well might just be enough to carry him through.

Hibs boss David Gray revealed that Dwight Gayle, having been nursed through the packed schedule over Christmas and New Year, didn’t actually KNOW he was going to play the full 90 minutes – plus injury time – in Sunday’s pulsating 3-3 home draw with Rangers. But the 35-year-old former Newcastle and Crystal Palace striker is raring to go against Motherwell this afternoon.

Gray, who had used Gayle mainly as an impact substitute, said of his full-match shift against Rangers: “I don't know if he knew; I never told him he was playing 90 minutes, to be honest. I kept shouting on saying, are you alright? And he just said, good, keep going.

“He's someone that we have to manage to a certain extent. We always knew that, with his history, his age he's at, and he's already commented on there about his body.

“But he's a top professional. He'll tell you how he feels. He knows his body inside out.

“And sometimes just his experience and knowing where to be on the pitch can be just as effective, even though you don't get the running power you've got out of a young Dwight Gayle. What you get out of him now is putting himself in the right positions and how infectious he is for people around about him.

“I think even Martin Boyle mentioned that; I think I've seen that after the game. He's learning even just off Gayle's movement at times and where to go and where not to go and listening to him on the pitch.

“That's what he brings all the time, whether he's on the pitch for five minutes, one minute or for 90 minutes. He's got that wealth of experience, which is great for everybody else.

“He's available for the weekend, which is good. I had a conversation with him, and I think he felt better than he probably thought he would after that game.

“I think just the way the game goes, the fact we're in good form, everyone's desperate to play, so I think your body naturally heals a wee bit quicker than you feel in a bad run or feeling sorry for ourselves a bit. But I think when the performance levels are higher, you definitely mentally recover a little bit quicker as well.”