Hearts get huge Craig Gordon lift but goalkeeper is still some way off first-team return

Craig Gordon is back in training with Hearts after a serious injury.

The goalkeeper has joined in with training at times this week as he steps up his recovery from the double leg break he suffered on Boxing Day last year. Naismith cautioned that the 40-year-old was still some way off a full comeback but the signs are encouraging for the Scotland international.

“He’s involved in some parts of training but he is just going through that period where he is building up his intensity, his minutes, and what he’s doing,” Naismith said ahead of Saturday’s cinch Premiership contest against St Mirren. “Yes, he is back with the group but that’s not an indication that he will be back in a squad any time soon.

“That’s more building his robustness up, getting back into it. When you have had that amount of time off the pitch, it’s really important that you don’t just go from zero to 100 and start breaking down with other injuries. He is in a really good place, he is looking a lot like he was before, which is fantastic news for us, but we can’t get too carried away and rush it.

“All round for everybody it’s good. In terms of being on the pitch, as any player and even the guys that have come in that he has not actually played with, when he comes back into training and he’s making some of the saves that he makes, people take note and realise how good a goalie he is. It’s a good sight for us, to be honest.”

Hearts are looking to build momentum after ending a four-match losing streak with a comfortable 2-0 win over Aberdeen last weekend, but Naismith knows they face a tough test against an unbeaten side sitting second in the table. “Training this week has been good,” he said. “I would say that’s been quite consistent though since I have been taking the team since last season. Everybody feels better after a good result and on top of that I feel we had some really good parts of the team.

“It’s been a really good week’s work, lots of work because we are coming up against a team who are really good and have started the season really well, unbeaten, and they have come up against a variety of teams playing different ways. They are well equipped and well organised and if ever we need anything to show us what the game is going to be like, it’s the performance we had last season there, we came out with a draw but we did a lot of things wrong and got punished for it. This game is vitally important for us and we need to be starting the game better than we did the last time there.”