Craig Gordon: Celtic goalkeeper to play 'as long as possible'

Gordon has extended his stay with Celtic

Craig Gordon believes he can continue to perform at a high level beyond the end of his new Celtic contract.

The goalkeeper, 34, has extended his stay at the club until the summer of 2020 and does not want that to be the end of his playing career.

"I'm very hopeful this won't be my last contract, whether that's here or somewhere else," Gordon said.

"I want to play at the highest level as long as possible and I'm hopeful that's beyond the end of this contract."

And he added: "I don't see any reason for that not to be the case. I'm enjoying my football, it's a great place to be and a great team to be involved in."

Gordon, who moved to Glasgow in 2014, was the subject of interest from Chelsea during the January transfer window but insists he remained focused on his performances for Celtic and did not contemplate leaving.

And he hopes to earn at least the five more international caps needed to be inducted into Scotland's Hall of Fame.

Gordon won his 45th cap against England in November

"It took a wee while, but delighted to get [the contract] sorted out," said Gordon, whose side lead the Premiership by 27 points.

"There were a few things to talk about, but not a great deal and after a transfer window closes, the people who talk about these things - agents and the people at Celtic - go on holiday. So there were time lapses, but it was always going to happen.

"The club never accepted any bids, so there was no chance of anything happening. It was just up to me to keep playing to the best of my ability and see what happened.

"If the club had accepted a bid, things would have changed, but I was just happy to keep doing my job."

Gordon did not play in Celtic's 5-1 victory over Rangers at Celtic Park earlier in the season, but was in goal for the two further wins at Hampden and Ibrox. Those scorelines were close, and he expects a difficult encounter when the sides meet again at Celtic Park on Sunday.

"Another tough match," the keeper added. "The two that I've played in this season, at Hampden and Ibrox, were only decided by a single goal.

"They're a good team. There's too much being made of us being overwhelming favourites and Rangers coming to take a beating. That's certainly not the case.

"We have to do the things that we're good at, and we have to defend as well because they create a threat on the break and have good players. We have to concentrate on ourselves and make sure we're doing the things we do well, and if we do that we give ourselves a chance to win the game."