Craig Gordon reveals extent of ongoing injury and thanks supporters for Hearts v Sunderland testimonial honour
It was an emotional afternoon at Tynecastle for the Hearts stopper who unfortunately could not feature properly in the match.
Craig Gordon has revealed that he will not be fit in time for Hearts’ Scottish Premiership opener against Aberdeen next week and will likely miss a decent chunk of the early stages of the new campaign.
The 42-year old was honoured at Tynecastle with a testimonial match as the Jambos comfortably saw of English Premier League side Sunderland 3-0. Gordon, the man of the moment, started the game but immediately booted the ball out of play and was subbed off for Zander Clark.
After the match, he revealed the extent of his ongoing injury problem, saying: “I was desperate to try and play longer in the game, but it became too difficult. The medical team didn't want me to do it. It was too dangerous for them to allow me to play any longer than that, so it became the decision that I would start the game, but I have to come off.”
Craig Gordon to miss Hearts vs Aberdeen Scottish Premiership opener and more
He continued: “It's more than a few weeks away, so it's not anything that's that close at the moment, but I need to keep working away. Everything this week was geared towards this game, but now it's finished.
“I'll get back into the rehab this week and keep pushing to see how quickly I can get back. There's no real time limit on it. It's very difficult to say how long I'll be out for, but I'll just get back in the gym and work as hard as I can to make that as short a time as possible.
“I had a disc problem in my neck and it's caused a nerve problem down my arm. I'm not in any pain. The nerve causes a bit of tingling down my arm and it's caused a little bit of weakness in my arm.
“Basically, if I can get rid of the weakness and get the strength back, then I'm good to go. Everything else feels really good. I can do everything else in training, but the strength just isn't there at the moment to be able to deal with a full game.
“That's the focus over the next few weeks, to try and build that up. It's not going to be straightforward, but it's something that I'm working on. It's just a rehab. For me, it's about trying to get back as quickly as possible, get myself out on the training pitch and join in with the boys and start trying to push to get back in the team.”
Asked if it could require surgery, Gordon said: “I wouldn't have thought so. I've seen the specialists and it doesn't look like it, but it will take a bit of time.”
Special afternoon for Hearts’ hero Craig Gordon as home and away fans show appreciation
Despite not being able to play the way he wanted to, Gordon was still full of appreciation for the almost 18,000 supporters that showed up at Tynecastle. Both sets of fans let him know just how much they appreciated his contribution to their clubs.
“Today has been brilliant,” said Gordon. “Right from the very beginning, I was here three or four hours kick-off and seeing the lounges, seeing as many people as I could.
“I was out in the plaza for a bit with all the activities going on out there, signing autographs, taking pictures and just trying to see as many of the fans as I could. Thank everybody for coming. It's been a huge turnout.
“One of the best friendly attendances or testimonial attendances I can ever remember at Hearts. That is very humbling.It just shows what the Hearts fans can do. We get semi-finals, finals, they turn up their numbers, they sell out their allocation and today they've proved that to me once again by turning up huge numbers for this. How special a fan they really are.
“I've had messages from other players that I've played with this morning wishing me all the best and former coaches. All those things, it's been a crazy day. There's been so much.
“We're going home for a rest now but the amount of messages from everybody, fans, former teammates, coaches, it's been totally overwhelming. It's been a fantastic day, one I'll never forget. I mean everybody's just wishing me well and hoping that the day goes well. Asking if I was playing, everybody wanting to know how I was getting on with the injury.”