CRAIG WANTS CELTIC WARRIORS TO WORK TOGETHER TO INSPIRE THE SCOTTISH CHARGE Andraz’s eyeing the second spot
The Hoops are unbeaten domestically as they fly high at the top of the Scottish Premiership and close in on the treble.
Scotland boss Strachan named Gordon, Scott Brown, Leigh Griffiths, Kieran Tierney, James Forrest and Stuart Armstrong in the squad for tonight’s make-or-break World Cup qualifier at Hampden.
And Gordon, 34, believes the understanding and winning mentality they have forged at club level can now be transferred to the international stage and will be crucial in this critical Group F clash.
The keeper said: “We are playing well at the moment. We know each other’s game and there’s a case for everybody playing.
“We know how each other play, there’s partnerships there and people know each other.
“There’s confidence and when you are not used to losing you go into games expecting to do well.
“You can never expect to just win any game but if you go in with the confidence that you are playing well, which we are, it certainly helps in winning games.
“We’ve dealt with that at Celtic really well because you are never going to go through a season and not have setbacks and not have to come back from things and every time we have been asked to do that we have been able to.
“As a group we have that and hopefully we can bring that to this team as well.
“I don’t want to give away too many secrets but if Leigh plays we know how he likes to play as a striker – the areas he likes to get in and get his shots off – so we can always be looking for the types of passes he’s going to enjoy.
“Further back, Scott and Stuart have played together for most of the season and they enjoy playing together, they work really well. They both have really good legs and energy and get about the park.
“Scott’s the more naturally defensive and Stuart can get himself in the box and has got a lot of goals this season by doing just that. As a partnership, they work really well in the centre so maybe we can see some more of that.”
Gordon made his first competitive start for Scotland in seven years when he got the nod for the qualifier away to England last November. He revealed it was another major goal achieved as his career goes from strength to strength after battling back from the knee injury that almost brought it to a premature end.
He said: “The manager names the team the day before or sometimes on the morning of the game. I didn’t have anyone down at the game as I wasn’t 100 per cent sure I was starting until then. That was always one of the long-term goals, to start a competitive international.
“That was a big focus of what I wanted to achieve coming back.
“There were a lot of steps before that but certainly that was the one I thought if I did get back playing and playing well for a big team, to get noticed by the national team, that would kind of put me back to where I felt I was before so mentally that was a big thing for me to get chosen to play a competitive game again.”
Gordon, who is set to win his 46th cap, insists there is still plenty for him to achieve.
He added: “The next thing would be to stay there, try to get to 50 caps and try and go beyond that and get as many as I possibly can. That was the aim and now I have more to aim at.
“I want to keep playing for Scotland for as long as possible. It depends on my body.
“I want to play for my club and country for as long as I can.”
Meanwhile, boss Strachan has labelled tonight’s game as “must-win”.
He said: “There’s no grey areas to it. It’s must-win. That’s dealing with reality. We have to win.
“But sometimes when you have a challenge like that in life, it brings the best out of you. We will have a team ready for that challenge.
“What we don’t have to do is win it in the first five or 10 minutes. You never know in big games when your opportunity will come along.” HEARTS defender Andraz Struna admits catching England is a pipe dream for Slovenia but insists the race for second is wide open.
Struna, 27 (below) could line up against Scotland to win his 26th cap tonight.
Slovenia sit two points behind the Three Lions and four ahead of the Scots going into the clash at Hampden but Struna – whose brother Iljaz is also in the squad – is still wary of the sides below them. He said: “We are in a good position and everyone can see that we are motivated to succeed in this qualification and finally reach the World Cup. “We expect England to be first, although we have shown that we can play against them. “We can take points from them but there is a battle for second place – and it is still open for everybody.” Having endured six months without a club after leaving Greek side Giannina last summer, he was left out of Slovenia’s previous three squads but boss Srecko Katanec stayed in touch with him. Struna added: “He would call me and ask what was going on with my situation, why was I still without a club. “I joined Hearts in January and now I can look forward.” ALAN TEMPLE