CRAIG GORDON doesn’t get much of a rest these days. Between playing for Hearts domestically, leading out the team on European nights and representing his country during international breaks, the 39-year-old rarely has an opportunity to put his feet up. But he wouldn’t have it any other way.
The Tynecastle captain has left his club team-mates behind to join up with Steve Clarke and the rest of the national team squad ahead of the upcoming Nations League triple-header. Ukraine await tomorrow at Hampden, then it is the turn of the Republic of Ireland on Saturday, before Group B1 concludes in Krakow a week today as the Scots travel away to face Ukraine.
It is a fairly hectic schedule for Gordon – and one that won’t really relent until the winter World Cup gets under way in Qatar – but the veteran goalkeeper is thrilled to have big matches, both for club and country, coming thick and fast.
“I just love it,” he said. “I love playing for Scotland. It’s the highest level that you can play at, really and every time I am fortunate enough to go out and play for Scotland is a huge honour for me.
“It motivates me to keep playing well for Hearts and to be able to be involved in the national team. I don’t want to give my place up easily.
“I’ve fought so hard over the years with different goalkeepers to earn as many caps as I have and I want to keep going and get as many as I can. As long as my body feels good and I’m still able to play I will try and continue to play as long as I can.
“I don't know what a break is, what have a rest is. Since I came back into the international team it's been a lot of games, been very hectic, and even right over the summers. I don't see that changing, I will just go as long as I can and try to keep playing as many games as possible.”
There are some players that choose to step back from international duty as they approach the twilight of their careers in a bid to prolong them but for now at least, Gordon has no plans on stepping away from the Scotland set-up.
He added: “Who knows? I don't know. It's one season at a time when you get to this stage.
“I wouldn't want to but there may come a time where that has to happen. But it certainly isn't something I would like to do. So I will keep going as long as I can and play as many games for Hearts and Scotland as I can.”
The rematch with Ukraine in Mount Florida provides Gordon and his team-mates with a fairly early opportunity to exact revenge on Oleksandr Petrakov’s side, who defeated Scotland in a World Cup play-off semi-final back in June.
The Scotland No.1 believes that the team are facing their opponents at a better stage of the season than last time and, as a result, they will have a better chance of securing a win tomorrow night in Glasgow.
“It was a disappointing camp all round last time, and we need to do better,” Gordon admitted. “We know that.
“It's a different stage of the season, hopefully we have got a lot more players who are in a better frame of mind, better condition, than we were at the end of last season.
“There were a lot of tired players trying to grind it out at a difficult stage of the season. It's a new season now, everyone has gone through pre-season and started their seasons so hopefully we are all in a good place and ready to give everything we have got to get the points we need.
“A lot of players had played 50-60 games already leading up to that [the Ukraine play-off], and it's impossible to keep going at the very highest level when you have to play that amount of games.
“You had a lot of players who had had a lot of disappointments towards the end of the season, missing out on Champions League, top-four qualification, whatever it may be.
“There were a few players who had disappointing ends to the season and it was very difficult then to lift it to go again. However much mentally you want to do it, physically when you have played that amount of football, it is difficult to do.
“Hopefully we are in a better position now, we will be desperate to go out there and put that right and get ourselves to the top of the group.”
