KEEP ME IN MIND STEVIE...
Gordon hopes to stake claim to be Scots No 1
ANOTHER landmark reached and perhaps the pinnacle of his career yet to come. At the age of 38, Craig Gordon shows no sign of slowing down or allowing his lofty standards to wane.
Saturday saw the Hearts legend rack up his 200th appearance for his boyhood club, fittingly registering a clean sheet while wearing the captain’s armband.
‘It was nice to mark that milestone with a clean sheet — I’ve not had as many as I would have liked this season,’ said Gordon.
‘Hopefully, I’ll get a few more before the end of the season.’
As it happens, he was little more than a spectator during a routine 2-0 victory over strugglers Ayr United, sealed courtesy of goals from Armand Gnanduillet and Jamie Walker.
On numerous other afternoons throughout this season, however, his razor-sharp instincts and telescopic limbs have proven priceless for Robbie Neilson’s side. As such, Gordon is certain to be named in Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Austria, Israel and the Faroe Islands. The only question to be answered is: will he play?
David Marshall, immortalised by his penalty shoot-out heroics in the Euro 2020 play-off against Serbia, has recently toiled with a back injury and was only on the bench for Derby County on Saturday.
With just three months to go until the Euros begin, this would not be a bad time for Gordon to really stake his claim to the gloves.
‘Everyone wants to be fit and to be
in that squad and, once you are in it, of course you want to play in the Euros,’ said Gordon (right). ‘It’s going really well for the national team and, with that tournament to look forward to, I hope to play as well as I can to try and stay in the squad.’
Former Celtic goalkeeper Gordon boasts 13 honours in a heaving medal collection but, asked whether lining up for his country at a major finals would be the highlight of his career, he added: ‘Of course, that is going to be the highlight of most of the guys in the squad’s career.’ Before he can allow himself such aspirational thoughts, there is the small matter of lifting the Championship title. It would take a foolhardy gambler to bet on the Jambos frittering away a 15-point advantage at the top, even in light of the two games in hand possessed by their nearest challengers, Dunfermline, who beat Morton on Saturday. But Gordon is unwilling to countenance talk of the title being done and dusted.
‘If Dunfermline win their two games in hand, then the gap is single figures and we still have to play them,’ said Gordon. ‘I don’t think (it’s over).’
It took Neilson’s men until the 72nd minute to break the deadlock, Gnanduillet heading home Andy Irving’s free-kick from point-blank range before Walker made the game safe in the closing stages.
HEARTS (4-4-2): Gordon 6; Smith 7, Halkett 6, Popescu 6, Kingsley 6; Halliday 6, McEneff 4 (Kastaneer 65), Irving 7, Mackay-Steven 4 (Walker 65); Boyce 7, Gnanduillet 6 (White 83). Subs not used: Stewart, Berra, Frear, Henderson. Booked: None. AYR UNITED (4-1-4-1): Sinisalo 8; Houston 6, Ndaba 6, Baird 6, Reading 6; Muirhead 6; McCowan 6, Smith 6 (McKenzie 89), Murdoch 6, Walsh 5 (Chalmers 58); Moffat 6 (Zanatta 72). Subs not used: Urminsky, Roscoe, Miller,
McGavin. Booked: Moffat, Murdoch. Man of the match: Viljami Sinisalo. Referee: Colin Steven.