Craig can't wait for dream date

IMAGES of Craig Gordon as a child are slightly hard for the mind to conjure. For a start, it is difficult to imagine a miniature version of this hulking figure ever being in existence.

But if you can possibly visualise the Hearts goalkeeper as a schoolboy, you'll soon realise that he has wallowed in the same fantasies as every other mesmerised-by-football adolescent.

Laying his head on the pillow of an evening, with feet probably hanging out the other end of the bed, Gordon would often drift off into a peaceful sleep by depicting in his mind the same recurring scene. Lifting the Scottish Cup with Hearts, his boyhood idols.

The experience is almost a prerequisite for any youngster who wishes to be regarded as a truly fanatical follower of his specified club. Yet, in Gordon's case, his own talent and dedication have taken him to within 90 minutes of transforming his childhood reverie into reality.

He was just 15 when Stevie Fulton and Gary Locke were taking to the podium at Celtic Park in 1998 to hoist aloft the club's first trophy for 42 years but, even at such a tender age, the man who would evolve as the most complete Scotland goalkeeper since one of 98's losing finalists, Andy Goram, sensed a source for his inspiration.

As Hearts opt for a gradual build-up to Saturday's climax against Gretna in this most extraordinary of seasons, Gordon remains alive to the poignant memories of his youth, for this truly is the week of his dreams.

"It hasn't really sunk in, not yet," he admits. "This is something I dreamt about as a kid, playing in a Scottish Cup final at Hampden. To be doing it for your boyhood heroes just makes it that bit special for me. The guys realise this is a massive opportunity to win something.

"We are trying to treat it as a normal game at the moment and prepare for it as we would any other. Valdas hasn't said much so far, he's just been keeping things ticking over in training and we are doing the same things as normal.

"As for myself, I have quite a lot of rituals I go through before games, and you always stick with things like that preparing for a big game like this. I can't tell you what they are, though. One of my superstitions is that I don't tell anybody about my superstitions."

A little probing and further investigation by the ever-inquisitive Evening News uncovers one of them, however. In photo shoots before matches, Gordon will refuse quite profusely to pose for the standard goalkeeper's picture, which involves holding a ball just above his eye line with his arms pushed out towards the camera.

Yet this writer spotted that very picture of him last month, and in a rival publication at that. "Ach, that was an auld yin," he says. "That was before I realised that every keeper does those pictures, so I don't do them any more." Fair enough.

He doesn't really do goals against, either. Hearts have hitherto conceded just twice in their Scottish Cup campaign, against Kilmarnock and Partick Thistle, yet Gordon is able to pinpoint an area of concern in his care-free cup final opponents.

"Kenny Deuchar has a great record over the past couple of years. He has a physical presence and we will be under instruction to watch for him. James Grady has scored a lot of goals this season as well and he played in the Premier League for a number of teams, so he will also need watched.

"I know Dene Shields, who is one of their strikers but he's not likely to play I don't think. I played against him a lot in youth football coming through the ranks. I don't know too many of their boys personally but there are quite a few that I've played against when they were at different clubs in the Premier League."

The general consensus would seem to decree that a punchy and forward-thinking Hearts performance at Hampden will outmanoeuvre anything offered by their opponents from the Second Division. Whilst that is difficult to argue with, it is worthwhile casting the mind back to the quarter-final visit of Partick to Tynecastle. A decidedly nervous afternoon for Hearts saw them almost blow a two-goal lead and permit a cup upset in the process. "Partick played very well that day," noted Gordon. "They managed to raise their game coming to Tynecastle and made it very difficult for us.

"We know Gretna have won that division by a distance and it seems they are going to be an even better side than what we encountered in the Partick game. We'll have to be right up for this.

"I watched their semi-final win over Dundee and they have a couple of big boys up front who do well for them, plus they have been solid at the back all year. They have a lot of experience for a second division team. We know it's down to us to play the game in the right way and take the high-tempo approach that we have done all season."

Through their association with the Scottish national team, Gordon and Steven Pressley are the only Hearts players who could rationally consider Hampden to be something of a second home. Paul Hartley, whilst unquestionably a Scotland regular nowadays, has still only appeared four times for his country at the National Stadium.

Gordon admits to a familiarity with the stadium, but he is equally determined that it does not breed contempt in the most important game he has played for Hearts to date. Seeing the indomitability etched all over his face by the time he emerges from the tunnel side by side with Alan Main should not be considered at all surprising.

"I'll be fully concentrated on the game by that stage. I've come down that tunnel at Hampden quite a few times now and I'm sure that's something that will help. I've played there on quite a few occasions for Scotland but also a couple of times for Hearts. I'll make sure the rest of the boys are right up for the game.

"Everybody will say that if both teams play to form Hearts will win, but you can never guarantee that everything will come off for you on the day. We are prepared to work hard, we might need some breaks to get us the goals that will win us the cup.

"We have a fair number of guys capable of turning it on - Hartley, Jankauskas, Bednar, Skacel, Cesnauskis - especially on big occasions. We've dealt with pressure well all season and always come out fighting, particularly towards the latter part of the season there when the pressure was building on us all the time."

As overwhelming favourites, the expectation enveloping Hearts will be immense. But then, fulfilling childhood dreams is never going to be straightforward.

Taken from the Scotsman