CRAIG GORDON’S body was holding up just fine. Which is more than can be said about his head.

This season had not long started when Celtic’s goalkeeper and the current Player of the Year began to feel something wasn’t right. Physically he had little complaints, at least at the start, but the mental side of things was a different matter.

Shots he saved a year ago were going past him. Crosses became a problem, his decision-making was not up to the standards he had set himself. What was going on?

A brain which for so long didn’t have to worry about saves, angles and elbows in the face, was overloaded. Gordon has gone from playing 100 games for Sunderland over five years, to racing in on that total within just 18 months of changing his mind about retiring. This weariness soon poured into the rest of his body. Is it any wonder his form dipped?

“Last year was such an effort and I underestimated how mentally tough it was,” Gordon admitted. "To go from nothing to playing 55 games last season for Celtic and Scotland, and then having a couple of weeks off and then try to go again, was something I found difficult.

"It took me a while, a few months, to keep going at that level. I probably could have done with a bigger break.

“Things caught up with me in the middle of the season. I was feeling tired, I didn’t quite feel myself. That was just an accumulation of everything, how hard I had to work to get to where I wanted to be and the hardest thing when you get there is staying there and keep that drive going.

“It took years to get there and to finally realise I was back to where I wanted to be took its toll on trying to stay at that level. Things did drop off a little but I certainly feel over the last few months and things have been a lot better again. I feel a lot fresher and sharper."

And it is because of everything he has gone through, Gordon is not one to take anything for granted.

Indeed, his daughter Freya made her Hampden debut on Tuesday night for the Denmark game, not because the five-year-old is a big fan of friendlies, rather dad felt he needed her to be there in case his 44th cap turned out to be his last.

"I went out there thinking it could be the last time I played at Hampden for Scotland,” he said. “And it could have been had we gone out, taken a beating, and I hadn't done well.

"I would then have been looking at starting the next campaign as third choice with virtually no chance of getting another game. So I had to go out and play well.

"I even brought my daughter Freya and she never usually gets to stay up that late for games. She loved it, too.

"I knew there was a possibility of it being my last one. I didn't want it to be and I went out and made sure I played as well as I possibly could have, to make sure that wasn't the case. I wanted to give myself the best chance of starting the qualifiers as the No1 again.

"If I can keep that mentality - that every game could be my last - then I think I'll do well most times."

If Gordon had made what would at the time have arguably been the more sensible decision, he could have been a Hearts player, his former team are the visitors to Parkhead this Saturday lunchtime.

He turned down an offer from Robbie Neilsen, an old team-mate and now manager at Tynecastle, to become a player/coach before he joined Celtic but the affection he has for the club he supported and started to represent when he was just out of primary school remains strong.

"You can’t change who you support as a boy and who your whole family have come through supporting, and I wouldn’t try and tell the Celtic fans anything else,” said Gordon.

“It’s a great club and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. It was my dream to come through and play first-team football there.

“I’d been there since I was 12, training with the youth teams and to progress all the way through and play for the first team that was the dream and I managed to do that.

“The way the Celtic fans have reacted to me has been fantastic. Even at times when I haven’t played so well, the support I’ve had from them I couldn’t have asked for any more.

“They’ve really helped me along to perform at the best of my abilities and I’m loving every minute of being here, playing in front of them and trying to win trophies.”