CRAIG GORDON knows only too well the pressures that come with being Celtic goalkeeper. Though after his matchwinning contribution for Hearts against his former club on Saturday night, he won’t have to worry about copping flak from his own fans for quite some time.

Even in the aftermath of his two late saves that helped secure Hearts a 2-1 victory over Ange Postecoglou’s side though, he showed that the goalkeeper’s union remains strong.

He had words of sympathy for both Scott Bain and Vasilis Barkas, the man who was brought in to replace him at the club and has spectacularly failed to do so, as he gave an insight into what it is like to shoulder the burden of being Celtic’s number one.

"It's a hard position,” Gordon said. “I got plenty when I was there as well. It does seem to come with the territory. It does seem to come with the club. Any little thing that goes wrong, you are going to get criticised for it.

"It's a difficult position. Goalkeeping is, no matter what club you are at, but especially when you are at the top of the league as that last line of defence. You are always one step away from conceding a goal.

"We'll see what happens there but hopefully whoever is playing can settle down and maybe get a run of games where they don't do too much and aren't in the firing line.”

Gordon saw enough in Celtic’s performance, even in defeat to his own side, to suggest that their goalkeeper may well get that respite soon.

New manager Postecoglou is trying to implement his style on his new group of players while also bleeding in new signings, but Gordon saw plenty of reasons for the currently crestfallen Celtic support to be optimistic.

"Certainly, if Celtic play like that they are going to score goals and win games,” he said.

“I think Celtic are steadily finding their feet. We know it's a rebuilding job for them.

“They showed signs of a team coming together - they moved the ball very well and made it very difficult for us. I’m just thankful we were able to deal with it.

“We had to give up a lot of possession and take the pressure. From Celtic's side of things if they can continue to do that they will score goals."

Gordon’s reaction to the first of his two late stops, where he pumped his fists and roared in delight after deflecting James Forrest’s effort over from close range, seemed to be cathartic. Was there an element of satisfaction in proving a point to the club who let him slip from their grasp?

"No that's too far gone now,” he said. “We are a couple of seasons down the line.

“I was looking forward to the game because it was the start of a new season and we got a few more fans in. Everyone was pumped up and ready to start the new season in the Premiership.

"Being the captain and getting those duties gave me extra motivation this season to do a little bit more and I really enjoyed it.

"I wanted to go out and play a good game for the guys in the dressing room and I did my best to keep the ball out. I'll more than take that.

"I just felt it was a big moment for us as a team coming back into the league to have a good start and put up a good performance.

"We've got an excellent result. Celtic had a lot of the ball and played some really good stuff going forward and we had to work so, so hard to cope with that. So it was a big moment for us to start the season with a good result.

"We were asked if we wanted a draw before the game and I am sure we would have taken it, but given the circumstances of the save, to keep that one out at that particular time in the first game of the season was big for us."