GORDON NOT ABOUT TO STOP FIGHTING AFTER REACHING A CENTURY
Gordon’s not about to stop fighting now after reaching a century of matches since his return from long-term injury misery
If I had played 10 games in the first season, I would have been happy
AHUNDRED games. But who’s counting? Craig Gordon, that’s who. Given his own footballing story, complete with a lengthy injury hiatus and recurring fears about ever playing again, a minor obsession with such landmark stats is entirely understandable.
The Celtic and Scotland goalkeeper actually volunteered the information that, in winning his 44 th international cap on Tuesday night, he had reached a century of games played since his return to the sport in 2014.
Having spent two years battling against a knee injury, working tirelessly in rehab, fending off all those voices telling him to just take that sizeable insurance pay-out and walk away from the game, Gordon has good reason to be proud of his durability.
Happy to be engaged in a titanic three-way battle for the Scotland No 1 jersey with Allan McGregor and David Marshall, and thrilled to be closing in on a second successive title — and potentially a domestic Double — with his club, he admits to having set his sights a lot lower when he first joined Celtic as a free agent.
‘I was just looking to play one game again,’ said the 33-year-old former Hearts and Sunderland keeper. ‘I just wanted to get out there and play and see how my body would hold up.
‘In that first season, if I’d played over 10 games, I’d have been happy with that. But I ended up playing 55, which was beyond anything I had imagined after coming back.
‘I didn’t think it was possible — but it was. It was a big milestone for me to reach and I’m glad to have carried on.
‘Probably after six or seven games with Celtic, I realised I was in pretty good shape, and that my reflexes were still what they had been before. I didn’t feel weaker in any way — in fact, I probably felt better than I did previously, when I was maybe carrying injuries and trying to get through games.
‘To come back and to get myself really fit… I realised soon after I started playing again that I was OK, and that I’d be capable of more than 10 games in my first season back.
‘Then I wanted to get as many as I possibly could. When milestones get closer, they do start to enter into your head. I think the other night was my 100th game since my comeback from injury, so that was special for me as well, a bit of a milestone.
‘I don’t normally count these things but I checked during the week, because I thought it must be close to 100. But I didn’t realise I just had just one game to go. I played 55 games last season, three of them for Scotland, and I’d played 44 for Celtic this season — so that made 99 before the game against Denmark.’
Gordon still considers himself some way from reaching the magic half-century of Scotland caps that guarantees a place in the Hall of Fame; six more games does not sound like much but he is aware of the competition for his place.
Marshall started all but one of the Euro 2016 qualifiers and, if Gordon has featured in a handful of friendlies since his comeback, he still has not played in a competitive international since 2009.
Asked if he thought the position was now up for grabs heading into the World Cup qualifiers, the veteran — who was impressive in the 1-0 home win over the Danes — said: ‘I honestly don’t know. All you can do is go out there and give it your best shot, if selected.
‘I did that against Denmark, so hopefully I’ve given the manager something to think about, and we’ll see what happens when the next games come along.
‘We kept a clean sheet in the Czech Republic (with McGregor in goal) and wanted to try to follow that up with another one. Yeah, that put pressure on me — but I’d rather that.
‘That’s how it is just now with the goalkeeping position — if one person goes and does well, then when you get your chance, you are going to have to take it.’
The same rule applies at club level, and not merely among those looking to lock down first-team games. In a title race now tilted very definitely back towards Celtic, Gordon i s adamant that the reigning champions are exactly where they want to be. And loving every minute of it.
Asked if title - winning sides always found something extra over this closing stretch, the keeper pointed to a spectacular l ate winner at Rugby Park on the most recent weekend of competitive Premiership action and said: ‘I think so. Hopefully, we can look back at Tom Rogic’s goal and say that was the turning point — that and with Aberdeen losing (to Motherwell).
‘But we’ve still got a lot of hard work ahead to make that the case, so we won’t be thinking about that just yet.
‘What is it now, nine or 10 games? It is the run-in, the time when the prizes are handed out, and it’s when you have to hit top form. Hopefully, we can do that over the coming weeks.
‘I definitely relish the pressure. If you didn’t, there would be something strangely wrong. When you play football you want to win. We saw that with Scotland — a team that maybe didn’t play particularly well but wanted to win, and defended well.
‘If we can do that at Celtic, and have that spirit, then over the last few games we should do pretty well.’
Four points ahead with a game in hand, even the visit of Hearts to Celtic Park this weekend should not cause the leaders genuine panic about blowing it all now, although Gordon stressed: ‘Well, we’ll have to make sure we don’t slip up — and we make sure of that by winning games.
‘It’s a tough one. Hearts are a difficult side to beat — and they’ll be looking to bounce back after losing at home against St Johnstone. I don’t think anyone was expecting that, so they’ll be looking to bounce back.
‘They’ll be hurting from that, and they are a good side, and a physical side, and strong. They look to dominate games. So it will be a big test for us. Hearts could have a big say in what happens.’