IT IS an accurate measure of how long it has been since Craig Gordon last appeared in a cup final that the club he faced that day in 2006, Gretna, is no longer in existence.

The curtain could also have come down on the keeper's involvement in the game by now, such was the seriousness of the knee injury which threatened a premature end to his career.

So it is understandable that, as he steps out on to the field at Hampden tomorrow, he will take a moment just to reflect on what it has taken to get him there.

Like the newly-laid pitch, he is putting down fresh roots with the club which recognised his green shoots of recovery.

So well has he flourished since replacing Fraser Forster as Celtic's No.1 at the end of August, covetous eyes are glancing in his direction to see if he is worth a return ticket to the English Premier League.

While interest from Chelsea is a massive boost to to his confidence - bringing, as it does, further validation that the man who was sold from Hearts to Sunderland for £9million in 2007 is back to the form which made him Britain's most-expensive goalie - Gordon wants something more tangible to affirm his career is back to where it should be.

That can come in the form of a League Cup medal, to add to the Scottish Cup medal he collected all those years, caps and injuries ago.

But whatever happens when he lines up against Dundee United, Gordon will not allow it to fly by the way it did in his only other final appearance.

The 32-year-old admitted: "I probably didn't appreciate it at the time, playing in a cup final, winning a cup.

"I probably did think it would come around again, that I'd get another chance. But I haven't been close until now, so I'm going to enjoy this one a little bit more. However, I'll only enjoy it if we win the match. It's not something I'll look back on fondly if we don't."

Not that the memory is completely blank when it comes to revisiting the final against Gretna, the little side who had a fairytale rise to the top - propelled by the financial backing of the late Brooks Mileson - before imploding and disappearing off the face of the game.

Their name lives on through Gretna 2008, a club raised from their ashes and now playing in the Lowland Football League.

But before the original Gretna died, they gave Hearts the fright of their lives, taking the odds-on favourites all the way to a penalty shoot out before finally ceding the cup.

Gordon's brow furrows as he recalls: "Gretna did very well. We were running out of steam towards the end of the season. We had a big push to try and finish second in the league and get Champions League qualification. We were probably running on empty, but thought we could go and win the game. We were 1-0 up, then, in the second half, struggled a little bit.

"Physically, we were tiring. Gretna came more and more into the game, and (Ryan McGuffie) scored a goal off the rebound from a penalty.

"Even in the rest of normal time, they had a few half-chances which could have won them the game.

"We got through to the penalty shoot-out with our main penalty taker (Paul Hartley) sent off, so there was a lot going on. It almost didn't work out for us. But thankfully we managed to do it in the end."

Gordon would like to be able to complete this story by saying he pulled off the save which clinched the shoot-out for Hearts.

As it happened, he did stop Derek Townsley's effort early in the shoot-out. But needing to score to keep Gretna in it, Gavin Skelton cracked spot-kick No.4 off the crossbar, the signal for maroon and white ribbons to be tied to a cup collected by mightily-relieved Jambos.

Some parallels can be drawn between that tiring Hearts side and the current Celtic team who tomorrow will play their 48th game of a season which began eight months ago in Iceland.

However, the silver lining from going out of the Europa League to Inter Milan a fortnight ago is that the Hoops have had a free week to recharge their batteries for this final.

Gordon acknowledges what a luxury this is, and admitted: "It's hard. We've played a lot of games already. But that's something you have to deal with when you're fighting on so many fronts. Trying to win three trophies is going to take its toll. But these are the games you have to get through."

There is no doubt every one of Ronny Deila's players will muster up enough energy for a lap of honour, should they get the first part of the Treble.

But no sooner will the cheers die down than it will be back to business, with the Scottish Cup replay against United on Wednesday before the quartet of games against Jackie McNamara's team is completed with a league match a week today.

By the end of this mini- series, Celtic could be significantly closer to a clean sweep, and Gordon - who has yet to concede a goal in this run to the final - can sense the determination building.

"We know it's a difficult thing to do," he said. "We've still got to win a lot of matches to do it, but we've given ourselves a chance. That's all we can ask for."

Gordon does not try to hide the fact Virgil van Dijk's appeal against his red card from last weekend is a huge boost, nor that Nadir Ciftci's absence through suspension tomorrow will be welcomed by the Hoops.

The tempestuous Turk has scored in the last two games between the sides, including last weekend's tousy affair at Tannadice when the keeper got a fingertip to his penalty, but could not stop it hitting the net.

If the final goes to another spot-kick lottery, Gordon would hope to have more luck.

But would he step up and take one himself, as Artur Boruc and Lukasz Zaluska successfully did when the clubs met in the semi-final of the League Cup in 2009?

"I've never taken one, and I don't practise them," he said before adding defiantly, "but why not?"