Dwight Gayle says creating great goalscoring memories for his young children is a big motivation in his Hibs career.
The veteran striker talked retirement in recent weeks but has hit a rich vein of form with three goals in four games. And netting in front of kids Indie, Denver and Oakley at St Johnstone on Thursday continued the feel-good factor. They’re back down south but will be tuning in for more of deadly dad in today’s TV game against Rangers at Easter Road. The 35-year-old has hinted that thoughts about hanging up his boots in the summer might need revisited. At the heart is the enjoyment he’s bringing to his nearest and dearest by performing in big games in the Scottish top flight.
“One of the big things is my kids,” said Gayle. “For them to be able to come to experience their dad playing is a big thing. So it makes it a bit more special to be able to score some goals in front of them. They’re seven, six and three – so at the remembering age now. Hopefully I’m doing not too badly for them and they think their dad’s OK.
“They were in with the fans. I was looking for them but didn’t see them. I was waving in anticipation that they’d see me.
“I’ve other family coming up to the Rangers game. So hopefully they bring some good luck for us. It has been fantastic to get the chance to play against these teams. It’s one of the big reasons I wanted to come up here and experience it. I’ve loved every minute of it – and long may that continue.”
Gayle debuted against Rangers at Ibrox in a 1-0 September defeat. That was the former £10million striker’s first competitive outing since March in League One with Derby County. But he has gradually come to the boil along with a Hibees squad that has been rejuvenated since the last week in November.
Their only loss in eight games was a 3-0 reverse at Celtic Park, where they earned praise for a fine performance. Gayle has scored in the victory over Ross County, grabbed an Edinburgh derby winner at Tynecastle and came off the bench again to equalise at McDiarmid Park.
He said: “I feel I’m the sort of player who performs better when the team’s performing better. And the team’s definitely doing that now. We’re starting to learn about each other.
“With a lot of new players we were getting used to it a bit. But now we’re starting to know each other’s games. And we’ve got some great crossers of the ball – something I thrive off.
“I thought we put in some really good balls against St Johnstone. Unfortunately it didn’t go in for us again. I didn’t really touch the ball other than for the goal so it was a bit of a lucky one.”
Defeats for St Mirren and Motherwell opened the door for Hibs to hit the top six – just four weeks after they were at rock bottom. But failure to see off 10-man Saints kept them two points shy of the top half. Gayle added: “Of course we look at the table and see that we’ve maybe missed an opportunity.
“At the same time we have to remember where we’ve come from. It’s a long season and it’s important we build on performances bit by bit. It’s just about what we do so let’s try not to fixate on other teams’ results too much.
“We’ve had a lot of games in this period and touch wood we’ve been able to get the boys out there most of the time. Everyone has been able to chip in. We’ve worked hard and picked up some good points.”
Gayle insists Hibs harbour no concerns about meeting a revived Rangers fresh from Thursday’s 3-0 Old Firm win at Ibrox. “They’ll be coming off a big high, they’re going to be buzzing off their win but we’re not worried,” the striker added.
“We’re going to have to dig in for a different sort of performance and need the fans to get behind us. Obviously Rangers are a good side but we’re in a good position ourselves. We’re a lot more confident from picking up good results, so it’s something to look forward to.”