Craig Gordon fired up by comeback doubters as Hearts goalkeeper makes return date admission

Craig Gordon has confessed he is taking motivation from trying to proving his doubters wrong as he seeks to recover from injury and prolong his career by returning ‘even better’ than before.

The Hearts goalkeeper is in the midst of a gruelling rehabilitation schedule after suffering a horrific double leg break against Dundee United at Tannadice on Christmas Eve. The Scotland internationalist has meetings with specialists inked in for the end of March to review the process and provide him with new targets in his bid for fitness. The 40-year-old insists he has not set a date for his return to action, but he admits he is inspired by those who have questioned whether he will ever play again.

He encountered similar scepticism in 2012 when he left Sunderland because of knee problems before a worrying two-year hiatus in his career and a subsequent move to Celtic that brought Champions League football and 12 trophies.

“I’m happy with how it’s going. It’s going to be a slow process, I am well aware of that,” he said of his recovery. “I knew that from the beginning. I think I’m doing pretty well for how it has gone so far. I don’t have a schedule, there is no end date in mind. It’s just about getting back and doing everything I can to make sure that when the bone is healed I am in a good place to start exercising again and getting back out to do the goalkeeping work to try and get myself fit again.

Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon has not put a timeline on his return from a double leg break. (Photo by Paul Devlin / SNS Group)

“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’s 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, I might not achieve it but if you’re striving to be even better then you will not be far away.

“Do I get satisfaction in proving people wrong? Absolutely, yes, without a doubt. 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. At this moment in time those will remain until I can get back and I can prove, firstly to myself, that I can still perform and can still do the things that I need to be able to do to get back to this level. So, this is an ongoing process of having to prove people wrong all over again. You never stop doing that all through your career.”

Having regained his Scotland place and proven himself on the international stage in recent seasons, Gordon has at least one more season left on his contract at Hearts and plenty to aim for with both club and country. Hanging up his gloves has not entered his thoughts and he admits he has the ideal role model in legendary former Italy and Juventus keeper Gianluigi Buffon, who is still playing on with Parma in Serie B at the age of 45.

“I wish he would quit and then it would make it a bit easier, give you something to aim for,” joked Gordon. “But he keeps on going. Yes, it is crazy how long he’s kept going. Maybe the weather is a bit warmer there and the winters are not quite as harsh. But, it is incredible that he is still playing. It is a league down from the top league in Italy, but the standard is still very, very good, so 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 this injury. That will be my focus. You see it in other sports, guys going on after their 40th birthday, into their mid-forties. It still feels like a long way away, even though I have just turned 40.

“It is about taking one season at a time – and at this moment in time it is about even less than that. It is about how far I can move this along and get it as good as I can to give myself the opportunity to come back at some point next season.”