BOTH of the goalkeepers who will be involved in the Viaplay Cup final at Hampden on Sunday have lifted far greater prizes during their long and distinguished football careers than the one which will be up for grabs.
Yet, Craig Gordon, the Hearts and Scotland player who is a five-time former winner, knows full well that neither Allan McGregor or Joe Hart will be in the slightest bit dismissive of the competition.
Gordon believes Rangers veteran McGregor, who turned 41 last month, and his Celtic counterpart Hart, who is 35, will be determined to prove once again they can perform at the very highest level despite their advancing years and silence those who have questioned their ability to do so.
And he suspects the chance to complete a domestic treble this season – the first of his playing days - will be another motivating factor for ex-Manchester City, Burnley, Spurs and England man Hart.
The 74-times capped 40-year-old is focusing fully on making a full recovery from the horrific double leg break which he suffered in a cinch Premiership match against Dundee United at Tannadice on Christmas Eve at the moment.
However, he will certainly tune in to the match this weekend with interest. He is, with such exceptional footballers in both goals, unable to pick a winner. He expects them both to excel during 90 fiercely-contested minutes.
Asked about his former Scotland squad mate McGregor at Waverley Station in Edinburgh yesterday at an event to promote online travel agent loveholidays becoming Hearts official holiday partner, Gordon said: “Allan's had an incredible career, a lot of big games and big performances. I would expect him to rise to this one.
“He's a year older than me but, being of a similar age, I know how much hard work it will take from here on in for him and myself.
"It's great that he's still playing. I thought it might have been his last game ever at the end of last season when he came off the bench for a minute (in the Scottish Cup final between Rangers and Hearts in May).
“But he has managed to go another season and who knows? We will see at the end of this season whether he goes again.”
He added: "Joe has shown resilience to get back out there. The criticism you had in the past will never go away. It's always something people will go back to right throughout his career.
“People mention it about him and when he left Man City. That's what everyone wants to talk about. They don't want to talk about how he has managed to come back via different clubs and all the avenues he had to go down.
“He was a second-choice for a while, but he's come back and is now a No 1 playing in a cup final with a great chance of winning the league as well.
“You need to give great credit to both him and Allan for the careers they've had and the number of times they came back and shown what they are worth.”
Celtic go into the final on the back of a 23 game unbeaten run domestically and are the favourites with the bookmakers to triumph and retain the trophy they lifted last season.
However, Rangers have not lost the last 16 matches they have played outwith Europe either and prevailed on the last occasion they met their city rivals in a one-off contest in the Scottish Cup semi-final last year.
Gordon believes there is nothing whatsoever between Ange Postecoglou’s team and Michael Beale’s side.
"It's going to be close,” he said. “It’s going to be a really close game and it will be down to who performs on the day and manages to impose their style on the opposition.
“They have slightly different styles in terms of how they want to play, so it will be a really intriguing match. I’m looking forward to watching it.”
Gordon won the League Cup five times during his trophy-laden spell with Celtic - and on three occasions he helped the Parkhead club to go on and complete a clean sweep of domestic silverware.
He knows that Hart and all of his Parkhead team mates will be eager to avoid defeat and keep alive their chances of recording a world record eighth treble this term.
“The League Cup in 2015 was my first winners’ medal with Celtic,” he said. “I have fond memories of the game, beating Dundee United in the final. We had a really good first season and it was my first one back after my knee troubles.
“The adrenaline of coming back and proving people wrong carried me right through that campaign. It was probably to the detriment of the season after that as I had to put so much into the comeback.
“But that first year was incredible and it was great to win a couple of trophies. That final was a big moment in my career. It’s important to everybody. It’s a major trophy and you don’t get many chances to win silverware.”
Gordon added: “Players and fans will celebrate because it’s a big deal. Some people might put more importance on the Scottish Cup with the history or whatever. But it means something when you get your hands on a winners’ medal and there is no better feeling than going up those stairs at Hampden to lift a trophy.
“You can’t win a treble without it. I managed to win a few of them as well, which was nice. It’s part of Scottish football. You have three trophies to aim for and while sometimes the goal is to try to get one, it’s sometimes the target to win all three.
“It’s difficult to win. You have to win five games or more with the group stages and it’s something you want to have on your CV. It’s a great feeling to win and a horrible feeling to lose in a final. I’ve faced that a few times as well, but more often than not it was happy memories for me. We’ll just see what happens this weekend.”
