Craig Gordon driven by records and proving doubters wrong as Hearts legend eyes next milestone against Rangers

Another milestone reached - two more within touching distance.

Hitting the 300 games mark for Hearts might have seemed a million miles away for Craig Gordon when he spent two years out with a knee injury over a decade ago and again when he suffered a horrifying double leg break in 2022. But the Jambos keeper insists he is driven by breaking records - and proving the doubters wrong. The 41-year-old celebrated his 300th appearance for his boyhood heroes in Thursday’s Europa Conference League defeat to Heidenheim.

Should he keep a clean sheet against Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday it will be the 100th shut out of his Tynecastle career which has spanned 12 years across two spells. And if he starts for Scotland against Croatia on Friday, Gordon will go clear in fifth place of the nation’s most capped players of all time on 78.

It’s been a remarkable journey for the goalkeeper who grew up watching Hearts on the terraces before first joining the ground staff in 1999. But it’s not over yet. Not by a long shot. He said: “No it’s all motivation and all something to aim for. Any little extra pieces of motivation I will take and strive to get there.

“I’ve probably been written off a few times with the injuries I’ve had. But keeping proving people wrong is a big motivation in itself. I think everyone has to keep doing that in their career. That’s what it’s like. You have to keep coming back and proving yourself in every game. It’s something I enjoy.

“It’s nice to get to 300. It’s a great achievement. Three hundred appearances for one club is a lot, especially these days. And more than I could ever have imagined when I first came through these doors in October 1999 on the ground staff.

“It’s not an easy place to play that number of