CRAIG Gordon last night confessed the past week has been difficult for him to deal with after Celtic signed Fraser Forester on loan and Scotland manager Steve Clarke suggested he could be set to retire from international football.

But Gordon has vowed to do his utmost to retain his place in the starting line-up at Parkhead and force his way back into the national set-up in future.

The 36-year-old helped the Scottish champions beat AIK Stockholm 4-1 in Sweden on Thursday night to clinch a place in the Europa League group stages.

But former England goalkeeper Forster, who started against Hearts on Sunday, was unavailable for the match in the Friends Arena having only returned to Glasgow from Southampton seven days earlier.

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Gordon acknowledged he will discover where he stands in the Celtic pecking order when the team is named for the Ladbrokes Premiership match against Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday.

He admitted he will be unhappy if he is left out of Neil Lennon’s starting line-up for the derby game against Steven Gerrard’s men.

“We’ll see what happens at the weekend and go from there,” he said. “I want to play as many games as I possibly can. But it’s a difficult situation to have four guys who have all played international football (Scott Bain, Forster, Gordon and Conor Hazard) all vying for one position.

“Bainy will be back soon, I think he’s only a few weeks away. But it’s going to be an interesting situation and a difficult one, not only for the coaches, but also the players to deal with.

“We’ll find out at the weekend. Whatever the answer is come Sunday we’ll all know where we stand. It’s just up to me to play and train and play as well as I can when I get the chance to get in the team.

“It’s not been easy, I’ve got to be honest. I must admit it’s been a really difficult week personally. I found out on the morning of the first-leg that Fraser was being brought in, and then he signed that day at the game. I still had to go out and play and put that out of my mind.

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“We got a good clean sheet, but then I didn’t play against Hearts. I then had to come back into the team again for the AIK second leg and make sure we got through. I just wanted to do the best I could for everybody else, but myself too, to show everybody I’m still good enough to play and I’m not too old.

“Until Thursday night I was just thinking about the AIK game, and it was difficult to do that. I’ve had a hard week so I just wanted to get that game out the way and play as well as I could. I’ll regroup ahead of Sunday and prepare for that game. But we’ll see what happens and take it from there.”

Asked what Lennon had said to him about his situation, Gordon said: “Not a lot, nothing really. I just need to try and play well when I get the opportunity. I feel I did that on Stockholm on Thursday night. I did everything I had to do because I can’t go chasing it.

“I’m old enough and experienced enough now to know that I just have to go out and do the job and the manager will pick the team. I want to be in it as much as possible and if I’m not then I’m not going to be happy.”

Gordon wasn’t included in Scotland manager Clarke’s quad for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Russia and Belgium when it was announced at Hampden on Tuesday.

Asked about the former Hearts and Sunderland keeper, Clarke stated: “I’m not putting words into Craig’s mouth, but he’s getting a little bit older and maybe bit closer to retirement.”

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But the 54-times capped player, who made his last Scotland appearance in the 3-1 defeat to Portugal last October, stressed he is determined to feature again for his country

“I’ve not spoke to him (Clarke),” he said. “I just want to be playing as well as I can and be there to be selected if needed. I’ve not spoken to him so I don’t know what his thoughts are about it. We’ll see what happens, but I’m not going to rule myself out of selection. But it’s amazing how things change.

“A week ago on Thursday I was thinking I was going to be back in playing for Celtic with a great chance of getting the No1 spot back for Scotland, while playing in European football.

“But those seven or eight days feels like an enormous amount of time. It’s been quite a strange week and I don’t really know how to take it all.

“All I can do is try and stay focused and play as well as I can and prove to people I’m still capable as one of the best players to be selected for the national team. You have to keep proving that as a professional footballer."

Gordon continued: “But it’s been a real week of negatives for me considering I’ve not done an awful lot wrong. I just had to concentrate on what I had to do, under a great deal of pressure and difficult circumstances. I’ve still managed to play consistently throughout and hopefully I get the chance to keep doing that.

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“I want to play as many games as I can whether it’s here or somewhere else. I’ll do whatever it takes to try and show I’m still ready and able to play at international level as well.”

Gordon added: “I never actually saw his comments, but I heard about them. Listen, I don’t want to fall out with him. I want to play in his team so there is definitely no fall-out there.

“Maybe he’s formed an opinion on how it’s looked from the outside. I had an injury last season which took a while to clear up. But I’m now fit again and ready to play week in and week out.

“Maybe there are just some crossed wires there. I just hope there is still a chance down the line for me to get back in his thoughts.”