Craig Gordon hails Derek McInnes' Hearts impact and fires 'dangerous' warning to Scottish Premiership rivals
Craig Gordon believes Hearts are already showing signs of improvement under Derek McInnes.
Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon has warned the club’s Scottish Premiership rivals that his “confident” Tynecastle teammates are raring to go after their impressive start to life under new head coach Derek McInnes.
Currently out with a nerve injury, the 42-year-old was forced to watch from the sidelines as Hearts comfortably beat English Premier League outfit Sunderland 3-0 as part of his testimonial celebrations last weekend, with the resounding victory helping them build on their four successive wins in the Premier Sports Cup group stage.
While Gordon is naturally disappointed to miss out on the season opener against Aberdeen on Monday, he believes Hearts’ new look team have all the ingredients needed to enjoy a strong campaign, hailing the arrival of former Kilmarnock boss McInnes as pivotal to the club’s hopes of success.
“I think ever since he’s come in, he’s put things in place, he's given us a structure to play from,” said Gordon. “We've played a few different formations and got guys used to what he's looking for in different situations, and it's been good. He's just been progressing through the pre-season and the games and everything's working really quite well. The players that have come in are fitting in exactly what he wants to do.”
Set to be broadcast live on Sky Sports, Hearts have their eyes set on the European spots this season, but will open their league campaign against Scottish Cup winners Aberdeen on Monday - a team who share similar ambitions. With both sides able to put down a marker early in the season, Gordon has thrown his weight behind the club’s attacking firepower and explained why he is confident that it’ll be his team that take all three points at Tynecastle, while he gave fans an update on his own situation.
“It's [his injury] more than a few weeks away,” said Gordon. “It's not anything that's that close at the moment, but I need to keep working away. Everything this week was geared towards this game [his testimonial vs Sunderland], but now it's finished. I'll get back into the rehab this week, and keep pushing to see how quickly I can get back. There's no real time limit on it.
“The boys are confident,” said Gordon. “They put together a really good pre-season, took it into the [Premier Sports] League Cup. It was a big step up again [against Sunderland] and they've rose to the occasion and been fantastic. Every game that we've played, we've progressed and we look like a really dangerous team. We've got a lot of goals in us from different areas. I'm looking forward to seeing how the season goes.
“I just think as a club as a whole, everybody's getting it right. I think we're really making strides forward but the proof is next week. We've started well and now it's about putting the performances on the pitch and starting well next week. Look at that team out there, playing like that. Everybody's desperate to get in that team, to start the league. I want to get back and compete for it as soon as I possibly can. The excitement's building. Everybody's really confident and we feel like we're a good team.”
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