Celtic keeper Craig Gordon out to prove to his old supporters that he is still at the top of his game

He is no longer in the business of creating a reputation, though. It is maintaining one that is his major concern.

The Celtic goalkeeper has not quite lived up to the high standards he set last term in his first campaign back from the best part of two years out of the game through injury.

There has been a degree of soulsearching of late, a spell of going back to basics on the training field after giving up holiday time.

Gordon enjoyed some of the best years of his career on the pitch at Tynecastle and his objective on this latest trip there is to prove that the kind of form which made him the subject of a £9million bid from Sunderland in 2007, then the record fee paid in Britain for a goalkeeper, is not a thing of the past.

“I go back there wanting to win the game and I enjoy going back,” said Gordon, who will turn 33 next week. “I get the same feelings running out onto the pitch as I did before.

“It feels very comfortable being there and being in that atmosphere. Being against it is slightly different, but you don’t really notice when you become immersed in the game.

“I look for the dates when we are going back and most of my friends will probably be in the home end, but that is just how it is. I will go out to play my best and show everyone that I am still at the top of my game.”

Gordon has never lost his affection for Hearts. He gifted them a six-figure sum that had been due to him when leaving for Sunderland and is delighted that they have bounced back with such vigour under the guidance of owner Ann Budge from the chaos of administration brought on by the collapse of Russian businessman Vladimir Romanov’s ill-fated reign.

There will certainly be an electrifying atmosphere inside Tynecastle when Celtic come calling, but, at its helm, will be one of the game’s quieter men.

Gordon came through the youth system at Tynecastle with the current manager, Robbie Neilson, winning the Scottish Cup together in 2007 before heading their separate ways.

Despite a recent run of four league games without a win, which has seen the Jam Tarts slip nine points behind second-placed Aberdeen, Gordon is hugely impressed by the work his former team-mate has put in to re-establish Hearts’ reputation in their first season back in the top flight.

Neilson is not the type to shout from the rooftops about the progress made since he took the helm last term. You get the feeling he never raises his voice at all, but, below the surface, Gordon knows there is a studious and diligent approach that goes all the way back to his playing days.

“He was quiet, but he was always very knowledgeable,” said Gordon. “He was a very good player, a very consistent player, but he learned his position and knew what it would take to get a run in the team at right-back.

“He probably wasn’t the most naturally gifted footballer, but had a great work ethic to learn the position.

“He’s used that to go into coaching as well. He’s used his brain. He’s very clever and knows what he had to do. He got his coaching badges and was always the guy willing to listen and be a bit more studious than some of the other players.

“I did think there was a chance he’d go into coaching. The only thing was that he was a little bit quiet in the dressing room, but, with the experience he has had, coming through with the youth team and the system at Hearts, he knows everybody there and it is comfortable for him to express himself there. He has done an unbelievable job.

“He was always one of the most hard-working players. Always in the gym, always working on something. He had a long throw, which was a big asset for us back then, and he was always working on something that was going to improve him.

“That’s a great attitude to have. You don’t have to be the best player in the world, but, if you have that, you have every chance of going pretty far in the game.”

Neilson’s success at Hearts has come as a result of operating side-by-side with director of football, Craig Levein. This two-tier approach to running football clubs has brought decidedly mixed results in British football over the years, but Neilson and Levein seem to have found a way to work together without there being too much in the way of friction.

“They are like-minded people and really hard workers,” said Gordon, who was managed by Levein both at Hearts and with the Scottish national team.

“Every time you watch a game on the TV that doesn’t involve Hearts, Robbie is there.

“At the start of the season, I was asked who I thought the challengers would be and I said Aberdeen and Hearts.

“I think they’ve done an incredible job at Hearts. If you’d had a crystal ball to say what they could have done, they are certainly up there at the very top end of what anybody thought they could have done.”

Celtic, meanwhile, will have a few points to prove themselves after losing 2-1 at home to Motherwell last time out and facing the very real prospect of going into battle with Hearts lying two points behind Aberdeen, who can go top by beating Inverness today.

“Maybe that result against Motherwell has been that little kick that we needed to focus and get back on track,” said Gordon. “I hope we can do that in this game.”