Craig Gordon was delighted to end four years in the international wilderness with a second-half appearance in the friendly against England on Tuesday night. The ex-Hearts 'keeper was out of football for two years with a knee injury and it looked like the 40th cap he won against the Faroe Islands in 2010 would be his last. However, he has experienced a revival at Celtic after he signed on a free transfer from Sunderland as a replacement for Fraser Forster, who moved to Southampton. Gordon has worked his way back into the Scotland fold and admits he had to work harder than ever to force his way into Gordon Strachan’s plans.
He said: "I think I have had to work a bit harder for this cap than I probably did for any of the first 40. So from my point of view it was nice to be back. I was hoping for a start but to get on was a huge lift for me personally after being out for so long."
Unfortunately, Gordon's first touch on his return to action for Scotland was to pick Wayne Rooney's header out of the net when he came on as an interval replacement for David Marshall. Scotland struggled to match England’s intensity and Gordon insists Scotland won’t make the same mistakes in their next set of international games. He said: "We looked a bit tired and off the pace. It is understandable because we put a lot into that Irish game and that was more important. We know we did not perform as well as we can do, far from it, so we are all disappointed with that. We will make sure that doesn't happen again."