TALKING CELTIC

CThe Parkhead side had six players in the squad – all started bar James Forrest who was on the bench – and after a gruelling season, there is little time for respite before it all starts again.

Gordon has 10 days now to relax and take his mind off football matters but he has insisted that whether there are those who need more time or not, Celtic must report fit and eager for what he has described as the most important games of the season.

Brendan Rodgers’ side will play their first Champions League qualifier on the 11th or 12th of July with three rounds required to be negotiated before they can earn an invite into Europe’s premier competition.

Celtic made it through for the first time in three years last summer and Gordon is ready for another crack at it.

“We will try and train the best we can to cope with it and we have to be ready for the first part of the season because they are the most important games of our entire year,” said Gordon.

“We need to make sure that we are in the right frame of mind and I am sure that the manager will ensure that we are.

“They are massive games because of what is at stake. The group stages of the Champions League have certainly been among the highlights of my career because of the magnitude of the occasion.

“It is a competition that every player want to have the chance to experience.

“There is another aspect too for the club in that there are financial rewards to be gained, but for us as players it is about the chance to play against the very best again.

“The supporters love those nights, we as players love them and it is really about making sure we are in that environment again.

“So there isn’t much downtime or too much time to reflect on winning the Treble or the game against England.

“But that is football sometimes. We would far rather be in this position than not so I don’t think you’ll hear too many complaints.”

LEIGH GRIFFITHS wrote his name into Scottish folklore with his two free-kicks against England, although in typical Scottish fashion there was a painful twist in the tail with Harry Kane’s late leveller.

And while Griffiths deserved to leave Hampden with the wind beneath his feet, Gordon has insisted that no matter the disappointment of the final minutes, the striker will look at it in a different way.

“Leigh will have enjoyed those goals, no matter what,” he said.

“I know how gutted he was after the game and he was the same as everyone else in that he would have loved being part of a win but at the same time Leigh is a goalscorer and those goals will mean a lot to him.

“No-one can take that away from him. I wasn’t surprised because I have seen him do it so regularly in games and at training up at Lennoxtown but I suspect it was sweet for him to get off the mark for Scotland that way.

“Hopefully when the dust settles he too can take a lot from the game although he is always a confident lad anyway. People can say what they like about Joe Hart but he is a top, top goalkeeper.

“He has played at the highest level and for Griff to go and ping two into different corners like that took some doing. He won’t be shy in telling us, I’m sure!”

Meanwhile, despite taking