Craig Gordon has stressed that his Scotland prospects rest in the hands of others after doing all he can to prove his fitness at Hearts.

The goalkeeper’s hopes of being included in the Euro 2024 squad after recovering from a horrific leg break hinge on two people – Scotland manager Steve Clarke as well as his club manager Steven Naismith. He admits he is playing a waiting game as he prepares to discover whether two appearances to date for Hearts – with another pending against Morton in the Scottish Cup on Monday – will be enough to seal a place in Clarke’s next squad, which is expected to be announced on Tuesday.

Scotland face friendlies against Northern Ireland and the Netherlands later this month as Clarke begins formulating his plans for Germany. Gordon won the last of his 74 caps in a friendly defeat to Turkey in November 2022. He suffered a devastating injury against Dundee United the following month but has battled back to play two Scottish Cup games against Spartans and Airdrieonians. He has so far been unable to oust Zander Clark from the No. 1 spot for league assignments and could see his Hearts teammate called up in front of him.

Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon has only made two Hearts appearances this year since returning from injury.

“I feel physically I am ready and I am at that level,” said Gordon. “But that’s for the manager (Clarke) to decide. I know I have not played an awful lot of games. You never know. I still feel as if I can and could play at that level – and still want to. I’ll play as much as I am given the opportunity to and every time I do I’ll try and show what I am capable of to hopefully still give myself that opportunity.”

He sounded circumspect about his chances of being included in Clarke's penultimate squad before the Euros. “To an extent that is out of my control," he said. "What I can control is my fitness levels, my readiness to play and my performance if I do get the chance. That’s what I have been focused on the whole time. That’s what getting back from the injury was all about. I feel as if I have been at that level for a couple of months, at least. It’s almost in other people’s hands now. I have definitely done as much as I could. I can look at myself in the mirror and be very happy with how I have gone about getting back and the levels I feel I am at. Now it’s kind of wait and see and hope for the best.”

Gordon revealed he had not put any pressure on Naismith to play him more. “I haven’t spoken to him, I haven’t chapped his door. That’s his job! My job is to be ready to play whenever I am picked and that’s what I have done.”

Hearts' Craig Gordon: I've done all I can to be picked for Scotland - now it's in hands of others