Ex-Sunderland keeper Craig Gordon hoping old club gets promotion

Former Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon says the club are in good hands with head coach Lee Johnson.

The experienced stopper was rested on Saturday afternoon as the Black Cats ran out 2-0 winners in a pre-season friendly at Tynecastle.

Gordon, who made 95 appearancesonWearside,isback with his former boyhood club afteraremarkablespellofsuccess at Celtic.

Persistent knee injuries kept him out of the game for two years after his spell at the Stadium of Light, but he has gone on to enjoy a superb second half to his career.

The 38-year-old is now captain at Tynecastle and in his pre-match programme notes said he hopes the Black Cats quickly return to where they belong: “We were in the Premier League for the full five years that I was there and it’s disappointing to see them in the third tier now. That being said, I firmly believe they’re in good hands with Lee Johnson, an ex-teammate of mine here at Hearts.

“I really hope they’re successful in their bid to get out of League One this season because Sunderland is a huge club that deserves to be much higher than it is.

“They’rethesizeofclubthat that’s capable of back-to-back promotion. They’re a Premier League club in terms of their stadium, facilities and the Academy of Light. Everything they have is set up for the PremierLeagueandIhopetheyget backthereassoonaspossible.”

Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson said he was pleased with his team’s efforts but praised Sunderland’s attacking quality.

“Ithoughtitwasgreat,Iwas really pleased with it,” he said.

"You want to win all your pre-season games but for me it’s about continuing to work on the shape we’re trying to playandit’sgoodsometimesto show them little areas where we need to improve.

“The last few games in the Premier Sports Cup have been brilliant but probably not the challenge we faced today with thewaytheyplayedinthepockets. There was a lot of stuff to takefromit,bothattackingand defensively.

“At times we were maybe a little open in the middle areas. Wewanttobeaggressiveinour pressing but we need to learn who to attack and when to sit, and which player is going.”

“Aiden is still sharp and has good feet and good movement. He’s done very well for them lastseason,hecamebackoutof cold storage and was excellent and I think he’ll be a big player for them this year.”