Zander Clark opens up on Hearts chance, Craig Gordon injury and facing former club St Johnstone

The 2-2 draw on Christmas Eve against Dundee United was a bittersweet moment for Hearts goalkeeper Zander Clark. He finally made his debut for the club after signing a three-and-a-half year deal back in September but it came under a cloud due to Craig Gordon’s serious injury at Tannadice.

Clark will come in for Gordon for the rest of the season after the Scotland stopper broke his leg.

Gordon is the undisputed No 1 at the Tynecastle but following surgery to repair a double leg break, the 39-year-old will not play again for Hearts this season. It means that Clark, nine years Gordon’s junior, will have the gloves for the remainder of the campaign after playing the last 20 minutes at Tannadice. And as the football fates would have it, his first start will come against his old club St Johnstone on Wednesday evening, where he won the League Cup and Scottish Cup.

“Aye it seems to work that way, doesn’t it?” Clark smiled when asked about the prospect of going back to McDiarmid Park as opposition. “My full focus will be on making sure I do things properly in training and get myself ready. I’m sure a few of them [his former St Johnstone team-mates] will be in touch. Listen, it will be nice to go back and see a few familiar faces. It’s a club close to my heart. They gave me a chance in football when I thought that was it done for me. So it’s a club I will always be grateful to. But when I go there on Wednesday I’m no longer there. It’s all about being a Hearts player and making sure the team and myself are ready to go.”

Clark has not been used to sitting on the bench. St Johnstone’s undisputed No 1 for a number of seasons, he knew when joining Hearts that he would have to bide his time. But there is a steeliness in the Glasgow-born stopper about seizing his chance with the Jambos. Many see him as the natural successor to Gordon when he decides to hang up his gloves and now he has a prolonged run in the team to prove his worth.

Zander Clark made his Hearts debut when coming on for Craig Gordon on Christmas Eve against Dundee United.

"First and foremost I’m gutted for Craigy,” continued Clark. “He’s been brilliant, but on a personal note I was delighted to come in. It’s bittersweet in the circumstances. But football is a cruel game, these things happen. When you’re a goalkeeper and an opportunity opens up and you get a chance you need to make sure you go in and do well for the team and yourself. I could stand here all day and tell you how good the big man is, I don’t need to, everybody knows it. It’s a tough task. I just need to make sure I am ready to go. I felt good in training this week, I was ready for that moment if it ever came around.

“I was under no illusions when I came to the club that it would be a challenge to play regular football – or even just football! But I had it when I broke through at St Johnstone, Alan Mannus was a top goalkeeper as well to try and displace. It’s frustrating but it gives you something to work towards. Something to make sure that when you go into training every day you are ready in case something like this does happen."