The records keep rolling in for Craig Gordon. Thursday night saw him become part of an exclusive group of players to reach 300 appearances for Heart of Midlothian.

Earlier in the year the veteran goalkeeper was awarded his 75th cap for Scotland and he can pass Alex McLeish and move into fifth in the all-time list during the upcoming international break.

The 41-year-old is also just one clean sheet away from a century of those, though was disappointed not to get it versus Heidenheim in the Conference League after a strong first-half performance from the Jambos.

As has been well documented, it is remarkable in a way that Gordon is still playing, never mind at international level or in one of Europe’s elite competitions.

Years out the game after a suffering a run of serious injuries at Sunderland, he returned two years later with Celtic. He went on to win five Scottish Premierships, five League Cups and two Scottish Cups with in Glasgow and the Championship with Hearts as well as returning to the international fold.

That’s not to mention the subsequent double leg break Gordon suffered almost two years ago now.

“That’s football,” he said. “I’ve probably been written off a few times with the injuries I’ve had. But keeping proving people wrong is a big motivation in itself.

“I think everyone has to keep doing that in their career. That’s what it’s like. You have to keep coming back and proving yourself in every game. It’s something I enjoy trying to do.”

It meant he had to battle hard to regain the No.1 spot at Tynecastle from Zander Clark before he could reach that historic milestone of 300 appearances. 

“It’s nice to get there,” continued Gordon. “It’s a great achievement and one that I will look back on at some point.

“Three hundred appearances for one club is a lot, especially these days. And more than I could ever have imagined when I first came through these doors in October 1999 on the ground staff.

“Twenty-five years later it’s a bit of a difference. But yeah it’ll be something I will cherish and look back on and will be immensely proud of.”

And despite the comebacks, Gordon is fully aware there is a limit to how high he can go. There are currently 37 other names ahead of him in terms of Hearts appearances.

“I know I’m not getting anywhere near the top of it! Time's running out on reeling those guys in. It’s just great to be in that company,” said Gordon.

“Guys like Gary Mackay, Henry Smith who were here and were people I watched playing for Hearts towards the end of their career.

“I even managed to play a game against Henry before he finally hung up his gloves because he had played on so long as well.

“So there’s always more to look forward to. But I’m happy to have made 300 and I will see how many more I can make.

“I see Henry now and again. He comes with his grandson and I see him in the Main Stand sometimes when we are warming up.

“Every time we meet up or we’re at a function he still reminds me he has a few more records on me – I’m probably not going to catch his appearance one! He can have that one to keep!”

“The higher up you go with guys who have played over 300 games – they have had a good career. It’s not an easy place to play that number of games. If you’re going to play at that level in front of this crowd you’re going to have to do something pretty good to play that amount of games.

"I’m very pleased to be in that company. It’s a special one and was something after coming back from the leg break that I set adds a target to achieve.

“It’s all motivation and all something to aim for. Any little extra pieces of motivation I will take and strive to get there.”

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When asked if he can savour the moment, Gordon is straight back to business mode: “We need to win more matches. The performance levels have been okay over recent weeks. Thursday felt like we had good control of the game but we’ve let this one slip.

“I was hoping it would be nice to tie up [the 100th clean sheet as well] against Heidenheim and at half-time it looked like we were the stronger team.

“But it wasn’t to be. I will keep that one going for a little longer and hopefully I can get it soon. That would be nice.”

Next up is Rangers at Ibrox in the Scottish Premiership before the international break where Gordon will be looking to chalk up that 78th cap.

He will also be hoping to help turn around Scotland's fortunes, currently on a run of one win in their last 16 though recent performances have been encouraging.

“Obviously I cherish every single one you can get," said Gordon. "Especially at this stage. There’s a couple of big games coming up and if we can get a couple of good results then we could still try and keep ourselves in Group A which would be an unbelievable achievement.

"There’s lots to play for, a couple of very difficult games, but we have a lot we want to try and achieve.

“We have a few guys back from injury as well. The performances have been of a good level and we just need to get that first win.”