Hearts' Gordon 'not pushing' for loan after talks with McInnes & Clarke

Craig Gordon says summer conversations with Hearts boss Derek McInnes and Scotland manager Steve Clarke helped convince him to keep on playing.

The 43-year-old goalkeeper has yet to make a league appearance for the Scottish Premiership leaders this season, with his only two competitive appearances coming in Scotland's World Cup qualification double-header against Greece and Denmark in November.

"Both of them wanted me to continue, so that certainly helped the situation," he told BBC Scotland.

"That made it a little bit easier to know that there was the club and the national manager still wanting me available for selection for another year. So, yes, that definitely made it a little bit easier."

Gordon admitted retirement was "definitely under discussion" with his family but says helping to end Scotland's long wait for a place at the World Cup means the effort to stay in shape for another season has "already been well worth it."

The keeper, who began his career at Tynecastle and returned in 2020, missed the start of term through injury and is currently back-up to Alexander Schwolow, 33.

This has led to speculation he may seek a January loan to get game time before the World Cup. However, McInnes is eager to keep such an experienced player and Gordon says he is content with the situation.

"I'm not going to be pushing for it," he said of a possible departure. "There's still a lot of time left in the season. I feel that I'm just one step away from getting an opportunity to play here, and then it'll be up to me to try and take that.

"We've got a chance to really push on in the second half of the season and see where it can take us. So it's kind of in the balance.

"I can't 100% guarantee that it won't happen, but at the same time, there's a lot to look forward to here. I do feel as if I'm still playing an important role within the squad.

"I need to be ready and show [McInnes] in training that if he does want to make that switch that I'm ready to play. That's where we're at. There's no discussions on anything more than that.

"He doesn't want me to leave on loan. It's up to me to make sure that I'm doing everything that I can to get the opportunity when it comes about."