You cannot teach an old dog new tricks but they can teach the young pups how it should be done.

Hibs are having to make sure the continue to unearth young players to fill the gaps left by their high profile departing players. They also have to make sure they learn their lessons well. Striker Damon Gray has broken into the Hibs side in recent weeks and started last Saturday's 2-0 derby loss at Hearts, as well as the Scottish Cup semi-final replay defeat to Dunfermline. He hopes that some of the striking skills shown off during coaching classes from his hero Alan Shearer can help him make the grade at Easter Road. Newcastle supporter Gray was on the Toon's team's books as a youngster but failed to make the grade at St James' Park. However, Gray worked with ex-England and Newcastle striker Shearer at the Premiership club and was also put through his paces by the prolific striker when he was doing his coaching badges at Easter Road earlier this year. Now the Geordie hopes he can learn from Shearer to achieve success in the SPL

The youngster said: "I'm a Newcastle fan, a big Alan Shearer fan - he's my hero. I got to work with him a few weeks ago because he came up here to do one of his coaching badges. That was a really good experience. I also worked with him just once at Newcastle too so I kind of knew what to expect when he was at Hibs. To get told you weren't good enough for a certain level at Newcastle, I didn't know how to take it or feel. You feel you have let yourself down when you get released but I had good friends and family to encourage me. Now I'm in the Hibs first team it's a really big step up from the reserves. You get your eyes opened when you make the step up but I hope I can cope."

Gray could have been an instant Hibs hero if he had not passed up a chance last weekend. However, he did open his senior account with a goal at Aberdeen in April, but with only five first-team appearances under his belt he pleads for patience. Ahead of today's final league game with Celtic at Easter Road, he went on: "I think I've done well in patches. I always try to work hard in games, but some parts I could have done better looking back. Overall, because I've only been in the first team a few weeks, I'm still adjusting to what it feels like and I'll be well prepared for next season. I was quite nervous before going on at Tynecastle, I've never been in a full stadium before like that and the atmosphere was really intense. But I really enjoyed it when I got on the park and maybe should have scored. I'll take it as experience at the moment and not be too harsh on myself."

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