Craig Gordon admits he’s taking inspiration from his hero Gigi Buffon as the Hearts veteran pounds the comeback trail.
The 40-year-old suffered a double leg break on Christmas Eve but has no intention of letting the horror injury call time on his career. And he reckons the man he admired when coming through as a Tynecastle kid 20 years ago shows anything is possible in this game.
Buffon is still doing the business back at his old club Parma in Serie B at age 45. And Gordon said: “I wish he would quit and then it would make it a bit easier, give you something to aim for! But he keeps on going. Yeah, it is crazy. Maybe the weather is a bit warmer there and the winters are not quite as harsh. It is a league down from the top in Italy but the standard is still very, very good. For him to still be playing at that level is incredible.
“Who knows if I can ever go on that long? At the moment it is about trying to get back from injury – that will be my focus. You see it in other sports, guys going on into their mid-40s. It still feels like a long way away, even though I’ve just turned 40.
“It is about taking one season at a time and at this moment it is about even less than that. It is about how far I can move this along to give myself the opportunity to come back at some point next season.”
Gordon is still early in his rehab and can’t set targets so occasions like next year’s Euros have been put to the back of his mind. But there’s one aim he can set – proving people wrong yet again. “Absolutely, yes, without a doubt,” Gordon said.
“That is always one of the most satisfying things in football, whether it is denying a striker a goal, proving people wrong by coming back from injury, proving people wrong by playing on at the age I am.
“These are all motivating factors I can use to help in this situation. If there is anything I can use to motivate myself, I will do. There have been questions asked about whether I will get back. Those will remain until I can prove, firstly to myself, that I can still perform.
“So yeah, this is an ongoing process of having to prove people wrong all over again. You never stop doing that all through your career.
“You have to keep coming back, take these setbacks because there is hardly a player in the world who doesn’t have them. You’ve got to come back. For me, that shows the level of player – that ability to come back. I’ve had to do it a few times so I’m well used to it. Whether it is through form or another player playing better and getting in the team, or injury, there are always things to prove and to achieve.”
Scotland’s No.1 has stayed in touch with the national team set-up and he’ll roar Steve Clarke’s side on this month in Euro qualifiers with Cyprus and Spain at Hampden. But the prospect of a major tournament next summer is still way down the line when he knows he’s on a long road to recovery.
Gordon added: “The Euros are too far away just now. At the moment, it’s keeping it short-term.
“I’ve got an appointment in four or five weeks to see what stage I’m at. I’ll get more scans and see how the healing is going. In the meantime it’s about strengthening it. That’s my full focus just now.
“I want to achieve everything I can. That’s never changed. I’ve always fought to get back to the very top and get better.
“There has never been a glass ceiling to getting back to where I was before. It was, ‘Can I get back better?’ That’s something I’ll strive to do. OK, I might not achieve it but if you’re striving to be even better, you’ll not be far away.”
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