CRAIG GORDON today stressed his determination to remain Scotland's No.1 despite what he sees as growing competition for his jersey.
The former Hearts star is poised to win his 34th cap when he faces Macedonia tomorrow in the opening match of the Scots' World Cup qualifying campaign, making him far and away the most experienced goalkeeper at boss George Burley's disposal. But Gord
on is well aware that others are enviously eyeing his place in the side with Rangers' Allan McGregor heading for Skopje today along with Jamie Langfield, the Aberdeen goalie called in to replace Norwich City's David Marshall who pulled out of the trip through injury.
However, rather than be concerned, the 25-year-old Sunderland ace welcomed the competition, saying: "Not so long ago we didn't have very many Scottish goalkeepers playing first-team football.
"That's changed quite a bit, the quality we have in the squad and, indeed, not in the squad, is great for the manager to have at his disposal.
"It's up to me to continue what I have been doing for the international team and to continue keeping my place in goal."
McGregor has emerged as possibly Gordon's greatest rival, although the Ibrox man only has two caps to his name, the second coming just last month as he made an appearance as a substitute at Hampden, strengthening his credentials with a penalty save from Northern Ireland striker David Healy to ensure the match ended in a no-scoring draw.
The 26-year-old may be something of a late starter in comparison to Gordon, who won the first of his caps more than four years ago, but, according to the former Tynecastle favourite, is rapidly accumulating the necessary experience to play on the international stage.
He said: "Al did well last season, he played a large part in Rangers getting to the UEFA Cup final although he wasn't involved in the last couple of games because of injury.
"It was great for him to get that experience and to prove to himself he can play at that level, which is vital. I felt that way when I got my first taste of European football, it gives you a big boost in confidence to know you can do it."
Fighting off the claims of McGregor, Marshall and Langfield will be an ongoing challenge for Gordon, although his more immediate task will be to fend off the threat posed by Macedonia and, in particular, their star player, Lazio's Goran Pandev who took his tally to 13 goals in 38 internationals with two strikes against Luxembourg last month. Burley is well aware of the danger posed by Pandev, who scored four goals in five Champions League matches last season, two of them in a 2-2 draw with Real Madrid in Rome, the 25-year-old having torn Southampton to shreds as he prepared them for the new Championship season last summer, scoring one and setting up four more as the Italian club swept to a 5-2 win.
And Gordon is no less aware of Pandev's talents, the Scotland players having received, along with their call-ups, a DVD of both Macedonia and Iceland, Wednesday night's opponents, in action.
In addition, former Scotland coach Craig Brown has provided a detailed assessment of Macedonia's strengths and possible weaknesses as Paul Hegarty will in the case of Iceland, the pair having been enrolled as part of Burley's extended backroom staff for this double-header.
Gordon said of Pandev: "We have watched videos on him and he looks a good player, someone we will have to watch. He's a very clever player, he can drop off and play in the hole, he likes to get on the ball and a lot of their play seems to go through him.
"It will be up to us to counter that and make sure that doesn't happen. But they have a few guys who are more than useful. Not many of them play in their own country, they are all out in some of the good leagues in Europe so it is going to be a very difficult task for us.
"Macedonia are a decent side, they drew away to England not so long ago so they are a very capable team and we will have to play very well to beat them."
Facing both Macedonia and Iceland away from home represents a tough opening salvo for the Scots, but Gordon insisted it was a prospect which hadn't fazed anyone within the Scotland camp. He said: "We have to play them at some point and that means we will have a lot of home games to come when the group is being decided. If we can get off to a good start in these two games we will put ourselves in a very handy position."
Nevertheless, Gordon accepted much of the burden of responsibility for ensuring the Scots depart Skopje tomorrow night with at least a point will rest on his shoulders and those of the defence in front of him.
An added difficulty for the Scottish players is that temperatures are expected to soar towards 100°F, handing the Macedonians a huge advantage, although Gordon insisted he and his team-mates are fully prepared for anything.
He said: "I have 30-odd caps now so I know what to expect in these type of games. Scotland are never going to roll anyone over very often. I think I've only been involved in one and that was the Faroe Islands at home and that does not happen no matter where you go.
"The reverse of that fixture, the Faroes away, was a totally different game."
Conditions, however, will play a major part in proceedings with Gordon conceding the Scots will have to adapt their game to suit. He said: "It will be a bit of a shock, we are going over there to face the heat.
"But a lot of the boys are not that long off pre-season and you get some warm games there so hopefully it is a good time, we have just finished pre-season and we will be as fit as we possibly can be at this stage of the season so we will just have to go out there and cope with that. You just can't go chasing the ball around for 90 minutes in that kind of heat, it's impossible. That's why teams who come from hotter places in the world don't play the traditional British style.
"We'll have to adapt. International football is slightly different to the normal style in Scotland or England so hopefully the heat won't affect us too much. We'll stick to our game plan and hopefully get the right result."
And Gordon believes the friendly against the Czech Republic in Prague at the end of last season will help tomorrow, a game arranged for the host nation to prepare for Euro 2008 also giving Burley's players a taste of the heat they can expect in Skopje.
He said: "It was quite hot and possibly the worst time, at the end of the season when our players were looking forward to their holidays and perhaps weren't as fit as they are at the moment.
"We also have a few boys back as well so I think we will be better prepared than we were for Prague. You are always looking to get as much of an edge as you can, one per cent could be the difference between winning and losing so we are monitoring our hydration, making sure everything is right, the food, the vitamins are there to give us the best possible chance to cope."
The full article contains 1286 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
