Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon believes his knee injury that kept him out of action for three months helped put things into perspective.
The Hoops shot-stopper revealed in an exclusive interview with Celtic FC that he appreciated recently making his 200th club appearance all the more after waiting for over nine weeks to achieve it.
He said:
“It does change my perspective actually. It was another reminder of how close we all are to not playing another game. I had that before and it probably helped me this time around as I knew I could come back again.
“Before the injury, I was looking forward to my 200th game. I didn’t know I was on 99 clean sheets as well, so that was something I only found out recently. Getting 200 games was going to be a huge achievement for me.
“To then wait nine-and-a-half weeks from the injury against Hibs to come back in and get that milestone took a lot of hard work.
“In the previous interview, I said I look towards things like milestones now. I didn’t used to, but when you get towards the latter end of your career, you start to look at what you’ve achieved.
“To play 200 games for Celtic and be a champion of this country in every single one of them is something to look back on when you’re finished and be very proud of, and I will be.”
The 35-year-old joined Celtic on a free transfer in 2014, two years after not playing a competitive game following his release from Sunderland. According to the Guardian, Gordon broke his arm twice and damaged his knee tendon and anterior cruciate ligament which saw his career in jeopardy.
Celtic’s first-choice goalkeeper has made 24 appearances in the Scottish Premiership this season, conceding just 16 goals and keeping 13 clean sheets. The Scottish international picked up his latest injury against Hibernian on January 27, 2018 and didn’t return until April 4.
Gordon was on 199 appearances after coming off against Hibernian and finally hit 200 against Dundee earlier this month, also keeping a 100th clean sheet for Celtic too. He says the three-month injury layout helps him appreciate the milestone a lot more and worked hard to come back to end the season with Brendan Rodgers’ side.