Gordon says his football resurrection is complete

Scotland goalkeeper desperate to sample Champions League action for first time

Champions League football has been a “long time coming” for Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon but he cannot wait to experience it.

The 33-year-old spent two years battling against a knee injury with most people believing they had seen the last of the him before he signed for the Hoops in the summer of 2014.

However, Gordon came back as good as ever and, after winning his place back in the Scotland set-up, he now has the Champions League group stages to look forward to for the first time in his career after the 5-4 aggregate play-off win over Israeli side Hapoel Be’er Sheva.

The former Hearts and Sunderland number one told broadcast media that his football resurrection seems complete.

He said: “Yes, it probably does to be honest. That was one of my aims when I came to Celtic. I had a few disappointments along the way but if you keep trying and giving it your all, it is nice when the good nights come along like Tuesday night and we will celebrate it well.

“To reach what is probably the best club competition in the world, it is pretty good, especially from where I have come from, and now I want to go there and prove I am capable of playing at that level.

“I am 33 now and this will be my first taste of it so it is great to finally get here.”

Gordon, whose first-half penalty save in Israel ultimately proved pivotal, added: “We have had a long road, a difficult challenge, a new manager coming in and we have settled into a way of playing.”

The Scottish champions had to battle to get through to tonight’s draw even after taking what looked a commanding 5-2 lead to the Turner Stadium.

Gordon saved Maharan Radi’s spot-kick before substitute Ben Sahar headed the Israeli champions ahead.

Celtic lost a second in the 48th minute when a mix-up between Saidy Janko and Gordon allowed Romania international Ovidiu Hoban the easiest of chances, but the visitors saw the game out and will go into tonight’s group stage draw in Pot 4.

“We gave ourselves a great opportunity last week and Tuesday night was about fighting to make sure we held on to that,” Gordon said.

“Although we made it very difficult for ourselves, we managed to do it.

“It is really exciting and I can’t wait to get started. It is brilliant, a great achievement for everybody here and we managed to make it.

“It was a very difficult night for us, we had to really fight to get through.”

On the penalty save, Gordon said: “It was not before time, I haven’t saved too many and it was a pretty important one, especially that early in the game.

“It gave us a bit of a lift although we still conceded soon after that, it certainly gave us a lift and something to hold on to.

“So I am delighted to play a part in that and it was a great team effort. They worked so hard, especially in last 10 minutes.”

Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths insists he has taken the next definitive stage in his career, after two false starts under Ronny Deila where Celtic failed at the play-off stage.

The Scotland striker said: “For me, you don’t really make it as a footballer unless you make Champions League football.

“I have managed to get myself into it and my next aim is to try to prove it as a main Champions League striker and I can only do it by playing in the group stages.

“This is up there with the best. When I signed with this club, I wanted to play Champions League football.

“The last two seasons have been very disappointing and I started to think of myself as a jinx.

“But we are there now and it is all credit to the manager, the staff, the people upstairs who have put their faith in him and us as players, we have embraced that quality and we did the job.

“It is one of the best feelings in the world. We didn’t play the best but we went over there, our job was to get through the tie.

“If you had asked anybody if we had to get through the tie 5-4, everybody would have snatched your hand off.

“You have seen in the past two seasons that we have failed to get over the final hurdle.

“Last night we got beat but it is crucial that we had a decent first leg and we are through and that is all we care about.”