Craig Gordon was not the only one who thought he had pulled on the Scotland shirt for the last time after his Euro 2024 snub.
Still performing at the highest level in the Scottish Premiership for Hearts at the age of 41, it looked like the 75-cap goalkeeper’s international career had ended when he missed out on Steve Clarke’s squad for the summer tournament.
But after forcing himself ahead of Zander Clark at club level, the Jambos legend found himself replacing the 32-year-old for the national team too as he was called up for the Nations League double header against Croatia and Portugal, with Liam Kelly also warming the bench at club level.
Gordon now looks likely to START both matches after number one Angus Gunn pulled out through injury. Inexperienced pair Jon McCracken and Robby McCrorie are the other shotstoppers in the squad.
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Hearts star Gordon speaks on Scotland Euro 2024 snub
The veteran has never featured for his country at a major tournament after David Marshall got the nod at the last Euros.
So having the news broken that he would not be going after working his way back to fitness for Hearts would have been doubly heartbreaking.
He said: “That initial period was hard. A few days, probably a few weeks, after the initial conversation, it was hard. It’s difficult for anybody to have that conversation, no matter what side you are on. I spoke to the gaffer and it was difficult for him to deal with as well. But he had to make a big decision.
“I know that’s partly what comes with football, and the manager’s got to make that call. So it was a difficult one for me to take on that day. It was tough.
“Immediately after that I was able to get myself away for a few days’ holiday to get me out of Scotland, because that’s all anybody wanted to talk to me about. I didn’t really want to talk about it.
“It was nice to have three or four days out of the country. I watched all the matches at the Euros. You can’t take that away from me.
“You still want the team to do well and the country to progress. You want everybody that you have left behind, and who went to the tournament, to have a successful time.
“I did what I felt was my best I could possibly give to make that happen. When you do that, when you feel as if you have given everything to it, then it is slightly easier to come to terms with.
“That was the decision that was made, but I did everything I possibly could to make it happen. So I had to just go away and work even harder to try to come back again.”
Hearts legend Gordon thought Scotland career was over
Gordon can be forgiven for thinking his Scotland career was done – he wouldn’t have been the only one.
“Absolutely,” he admits when that was put to him. “I had to ask the kit man for a new tracksuit because I didn’t think I would be needing that again.
“It was nice to see everybody again. It just shows that you never really know in football because anything can happen.
“We’ll see how the week goes. It was a good session this morning. I enjoyed it and did well. Now it’s just a case of getting down to the hard work over this week — and proving I’ve got what it takes to start the game over in Croatia.