IF any evidence was required that Celtic remain just as hungry for success now as when Brendan Rodgers first took over last year despite all of the silverware they have lifted and plaudits which have been heaped upon them then Craig Gordon provided it at the weekend.

The goalkeeper had hardly been involved in the Ladbrokes Premiership match against Ross County at Parkhead on Saturday and his side was leading comfortably when the visitors broke upfield in the second half.

He pulled off a magnificent double save as good as any in his long and distinguished career to deny first Craig Curran and then Davis Keillor-Dunn, keep his team 2-0 in front, effectively kill off their rivals’ hopes of staging an unlikely comeback and stretch their unbeaten domestic run to 55 games.

“That was good,” said Gordon. “When it’s important for the game - that was at 2-0 and it could have gone 2-1 - you never know what can happen. Ross County could have got a bit of a lift.

“Within a minute of the save, it went to 3-0 and the game was finished. I’d be happy with that save at any stage of the game, but when it has a wee bit more important in the context of the outcome, it’s more satisfying.

“You aren’t called upon to do that all that often as Celtic ‘keeper. It’s more about decision making and setting up the play, making sure everyone is in the right position and circulating the ball.

“That kind of thing can be ignored, but it can be pivotal in terms of how the match goes. But it’s all well and good doing that side of things, but keeping the ball out of the net is the most important part of being a ‘keeper. So that was a save I was happy with.”

Gordon’s personal contribution to the 4-0 triumph underlined that Celtic - who had faced Paris Saint-Germain, Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappe, Neymar et al, just five days earlier – are determined to win every game and every domestic competition they are in irrespective of the treble they completed last term.

Rodgers’s charges, then, will take their meeting with Dundee in the quarter-finals of the Betfred Cup at Dens Park this evening every bit as seriously as the Old Firm game they will play against Rangers at Ibrox in the Premiership on Saturday or the Champions League group game against Anderlecht in Belgium next a week tonight such are the demands they place upon themselves.

“It’s a new season,” said Gordon. “I’ve won the League Cup twice now and we’ve got to try for the hat-trick. We are looking to keep on winning games. We’d prefer to have a home tie but it’s one we can go and win. We’ll look forward to it. We’ve got a busy schedule at the moment and we need to keep winning games.

“We know if we don’t perform, it will be difficult. Faissal El Bakhtaoui scored a wonder strike against us there last season. Dundee got a good win on Saturday. We know we’ll have to play well. If we can impose our style of play, we are always going to give ourselves chances to win the game.”

The Celtic strikers, Leigh Griffiths and then Moussa Dembele, have been lavished with praise for the goals they have scored in the past few seasons, but Gordon is more concerned with how the back line functions and feels that is every bit as important to their prospects of maintaining their astonishing run of form.

“If we can keep the back door shut, we always look as if we are going to score goals,” he said. “All three of our strikers are fit now. The manager has great options and it gives us great firepower all over the pitch. It’s up to us at the back to make sure they have the platform to do that.”

Rodgers has rotated his Celtic squad during the Premiership, Betfred Cup and Champions League matches they have played to date with one exception; Gordon has played in all 14 of their competitive outings.

But the 34-year-old, who also played for Scotland in their Russia 2018 wins over Lithuania away and Malta at home earlier this month, would much prefer to be involved.

“I don’t know if I’d take a break,” he said. “I might not start again. I don’t mind keeping on playing. There were plenty of times when I wasn’t playing. I’m not going to start complaining about not getting a rest.”

Winning the Betfred Cup last season set Celtic on their way to only the fourth treble in their 129 year history, but Gordon has, despite the impressive start they have made to the new season, refused to contemplate repeating that achievement in the coming months

“That’s a long way away,” he said. “We just have to keep winning games. We are still in September. We have a quarter-final to try and win against Dundee. If we start looking at all that too soon, then it’s a long way.

“We need to keep on winning, we want to win. We want to get into the next round. If we do, we are a step closer to the first trophy of the season. We still have three games to win, so the treble is still a long way away.”