Sweetest moment of my career? See me after Sunday

Thursday’s 50th cap and Faddy in Paris right up there for Craig but keeper out to top lot v Slovenia

THERE have been a fair few highs in his 50 caps but Craig Gordon reckons Martin Skrtel’s own goal to sink Slovakia was up there with Faddy’s moment of magic in Paris.

The Scotland No.1 savoured the late Hampden roar to get back on track to Russia but he believes a super Sunday in Slovenia could top the lot.

Gordon celebrated clocking up his half century for the national side in some style as the Slovak win went straight towards the top in his personal hall of fame.

James McFadden’s wonder strike against France in Paris in 2007 holds top spot so far but will be overtaken if Scotland pull off the most remarkable of recoveries this weekend.

Gordon said: “Was it the sweetest? Thursday was definitely one of them, it’s right up there.

“There was obviously Paris as well. There was still an awful long way to go in that game after Faddy’s goal. Far too long. I thought we’d just annoyed them.

“There have been some great highs over the years and hopefully there’s another one to come in Slovenia.”

A year ago Scotland looked so far off the road to Russia they would have needed GPS to find a path. Not now. Gordon Strachan’s men are just 90 minutes from a World Cup play-off place that looked a million miles away at the halfway stage in Group F.

Celtic keeper Gordon never gave up hope – and he won’t now. He said: “Had we given up on it? No, not at all. We knew it was going to be difficult and it still will be.

“We need to go to Slovenia and win and even if we do that we’ll have a double-header against another team that finished second in their group.

“We’ve kept it going to the last game and given ourselves a chance. The atmosphere is great in the squad and to win the way we did against Slovakia is going to help us bounce into the next game with an uplifting feeling.”

Gordon had the kind of grin that wouldn’t have been shifted without a blowtorch but he was doing his best to keep a lid on his soaring emotions.

He has known heartache with Scotland and is determined to avoid more pain. The shot-stopper was part of the national side who went to the World Cup wire a decade ago when the defeat by Italy at Hampden saw the country fall at the final hurdle.

Now he doesn’t dare look beyond Ljubljana tomorrow.

He said: “Are we thinking about the World Cup now? No, not really. I was involved when we played Italy and we didn’t manage to do it, so I know what that feels like. I’d rather not feel it again. It’s it in our own hands but we’re away from home and they’re a good team.

“It took us until late in the game to beat them at Hampden. We know we’ll have to play really well – probably better than we did against Slovakia.”

It might have been late but it was still pretty decent against the Slovaks and it was certainly dramatic.

Less so at the back though as Gordon and Co made it three competitive clean sheets on the spin for the first time in 18 years. The target is now four – something Scotland haven’t done since a seven-match run which began against Switzerland at Euro 96 and went on to April 1997. The defence has been solid when needed and it allowed Gordon to toast his half century in the best possible fashion.

He said: “It wasn’t a bad way to do it. That’s three clean sheets in a row for the first time since 1999, that’s a good place to start to try and win any game.

“It took us until the last minute to find a way past their keeper, who was fantastic, so it was nice to finally get the ball behind him.

“I don’t know when the last time was we went four clean sheets in a row – I’ll need to look it up!

“We’ve been good at defending in the last few games. It’s a great place for the rest of the team to start from if we’re defending well. We limited them to few opportunities so it was good from the defence to set the team up to go and try to win the game.”

One thing is for sure, no one will be turning off the telly or leaving the pub early tomorrow. Scotland left it late against Lithuania, Slovenia, England and now the Slovaks, all at Hampden, and it could be another long night in Ljubljana. Gordon said: “It’s a sign of good fitness that we keep going. We said at half-time they might tire towards the end after playing for so long with 10 men. We kept going and eventually managed to force the ball over the line.” Now it’s time to force the campaign over the line in familiar surroundings for Gordon. He said: “It’s not a bad wee ground. I’ve been to Slovenia with Celtic in pre-season and some of us played there in 2005 with Scotland so we’ll know what to expect.” We all expect more nerve-shredding drama, that’s for sure. COME ON SCOTLAND... COME ON SCOTLAND... COME ON SCOTLAND... COME ON SCOTLAND... COME ON SCOTLAND... COME ON SCOTLAND... COME ON SCOTLAND... COME ON SCOTLAND... COME O