Gordon puts dark days behind him

CRAIG Gordon focused on the people who had helped him through the dark days as he savoured the fulfilment of his two-decade long campaign to get Scotland back to the World Cup.

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The Hearts goalkeeper made his Scotland debut in May 2004, six years after the country was last represented on the biggest stage.

He featured heavily in failed campaigns to get to the 2006 and 2010 tournaments and then had a four-year hiatus from international football as he battled a knee injury that looked highly likely to end his career.

After making a hugely successful comeback with Celtic, Gordon was then back at the heart of the 2018 and 2022 campaigns, playing in the playoff defeat by Ukraine for the latter.

Gordon's Scotland career looked over again after he failed to make the Euro 24 squad but he was back as number one for the Nations League campaign.

There were further twists and turns as a neck injury potentially spelled the end of his career.