Craig Gordon in line to become Scotland's oldest ever player after signing a new Hearts contract on the bus

The veteran goalkeeper is hunting down yet another record - this time at international level

Provided Craig Gordon's recovery from a broken leg culminates in a Scotland return at some point, he would become the oldest international player in the country's history. The Hearts goalkeeper is keen to regain first-choice status at club level but is also looking to reclaim a place in the national team after a year out injured.

Scotland play friendlies against Netherlands and Northern Ireland next month as the build up to June's European Championship begins. Gordon, currently behind Zander Clark in the queue for first-team places at Hearts, is eager to be involved. One more cap would make him Scotland's oldest ever player at 41.

That record is currently held by David Weir, whose final international outing came at the age of 40 against Spain in 2010. Gordon is already Hearts' most-capped internationalist and sits sixth on the list of most-capped Scotland players having represented his country 74 times. He does not intend to finish there.

"That’s something to aim for. I have become the oldest player to play for Hearts, so why not Scotland as well?" he said. "That would be another great achievement. I probably already have the longest career span between first and last games. So if I could be the oldest as well, I may as well give that a go."

"The Celtic game on 3 March will be 23 years since I first appeared in a Hearts squad at Ibrox - 3 March, 2001. That’s the next one [milestone]. I don’t know what the next one after that is but I'll figure it out after that. If I play one more game in Europe I would break the record and hold the most appearances for Hearts [in European competition]. I’m aware of these things.

"There are always things to strive for - any little thing you can use to motivate yourself to push on to the next level. It’s 25 years since I signed here, you have to move with the times and look for the next thing. And I’ll always look for something to aim for to try and achieve."

A quarter of a century since penning that first professional contract, he recently signed another one. The process has changed somewhat in the interim. Gordon signed the 12-month extension to his Hearts contract on the bus heading to McDiarmid Park on Wednesday and emailed it back to sporting director Joe Savage.

"It was very quickly done. I signed it on the bus on the way up to St Johnstone and sent it back to him. As quick as that. So it was straightforward. I wanted to sign," he explained. It was the first time he had agreed to a new deal on a bus. "No, that was a first. Probably changed days. Signing in 1999, you sat there with your pen. I don’t think there was the facility to e-sign it and send it back. It’s changed days, but there’s probably lots of things in football and life that have changed since back then."

Gordon could be involved in Sunday's Scottish Cup fifth-round tie away to Championship side Airdrie. He is still striving to regain the Hearts goalkeeping place from Zander Clark following that long absence through injury. At no point did he contemplate retiring, or even planning how long he would continue playing.

"I had never had any thoughts about putting an end date on anything. Just keep going as long as I feel able to," he said. "You get the feeling when you are out on the training pitch and you are still contributing and still doing well in the small-sided games, as a player you can tell when you start to let yourself down in those situations. I've not. I've felt good. I feel as I am training well so it was an easy enough decision to keep it going."

He is unlikely to sign anything other than one-year contracts from now on. "Yeah, just concentrating on playing and seeing how far it can take me. No real thoughts beyond the end of that. I think at this stage each season could be the last," admitted the keeper. "That's a nice thing to have in your mind as well.

"It certainly keeps me focused and keeps me preparing for each game, pushing hard in training and in the gym and all the things you do off the pitch. It certainly keeps you focused knowing that you have always got that one year that you have to be on top of things, especially at this age. If I start to let anything slide on the training side of things then people are going to notice."

There is, of course, no law stating an age at which a sportsman must retire. "Absolutely. There is no limit. There never will be but there will come a day when enough is enough," said Gordon. He does not, however, expect to still be pulling on the gloves at 50.

"We'll see about that," he laughed. "I'll probably say that is definitely not happening. Who knows. One year at a time, let's see how it goes and we'll take it from there."