Kieron Bowie is champing at the bit to return for Hibs, and Dwight Gayle is eager to help him succeed _(Image: Ross MacDonald - SNS Group)_
Dwight Gayle is prepared to take a back seat in terms of gametime once Kieron Bowie and Mykola Kuharevich are both fully fit - but the Hibernian striker has vowed to do all he can to keep helping the team, and 22-year-old Bowie, reach their full potential.
Injury to Bowie and, currently, Kuharevich has resulted in the 35-year-old taking on a bit more in terms of workload in the final third but he is relishing being able to help, and when Bowie returns to action and Kuharevich is fit again, he'll be more than happy to return to a secondary role.
"I've been able to help the team with a few more experienced bits of play at crucial times - and that might be what I have to do for the next six months. It might be little parts or 15 minutes to help the team when they're maybe a bit under pressure or whatever. Even if it's giving information to other people in the positions that I'll be playing in, maybe it can help them to improve and help the team," Gayle explained.
"Kieron is raring to go. He's back in training, on his own, outside and if I can start to give him a bit of experience or he starts to pick up little bits from me, I'm sure he'll be a great player," he added.
There is a good chance Gayle will be tasked with spearheading the Hibs attack at Pittodrie, but before he steps out onto the pitch he'll take a moment, as he does before every game these days, to appreciate what he has and what he does.
"In terms of the enjoyment factor for the last two years now, before each game, I'm thinking to myself that this is potentially one of your last ones, so try and enjoy it. Even before coming to Hibs, I was thinking this could be the last opportunity to do something like this, and it's been amazing," he said.
"As I said at the start, it was something that was very different and excited me in terms of the size of the club and the opportunities here to experience a lot of new feelings and play against some different teams and no more than the one on Boxing Day again that everyone spoke to me about. We've got a more important one on Saturday first of all, but definitely something to look forward to."