SCOTT Sinclair last night expressed confidence that Chelsea target Craig Gordon will still be a Celtic player when the transfer window closes tomorrow.
The English Premier League leaders, who are prepared to let second-choice goalkeeper Asmir Begovic leave for Bournemouth, had an offer of just under £3 million for Gordon turned down last week.
Parkhead manager Brendan Rodgers is adamant he will not allow the Scotland international to leave, but the Stamford Bridge club are expected to test Celtic’s resolve with an improved bid before the deadline.
Gordon’s interest has been piqued by the attention from Antonio Conte even though he would only be back-up to Thibaut Courtois.
But Sinclair, who spent three seasons at Chelsea early in his career, reckons his team-mate, who has just won back his place in the national team, would rather play regularly rather than sit on the bench.
“I’m sure the manager won’t want to let Craig go,” said Sinclair, who scored twice yesterday as Celtic beat Hearts 4-0 at Parkhead to stretch their undefeated start to the domestic season to 27 games, passing the tally of the Lisbon Lions and setting a new post-war Scottish record.
Sinclair went on: “He’s massive to us, but there’s a couple days left so we’ll just need to wait and see. He’s old enough now and he’s played in the Premier League before.
“Everyone is different and we all have choices and it’s up to Craig to make the choice.”
Sinclair said every member of the Celtic squad is keen to maintain their unbeaten streak, with their next test coming against third-placed Aberdeen in Glasgow on Wednesday night. “I think it’s massive,” he said of Celtic’s run. “It’s a great achievement for the players and the manager and it shows how hard we’ve been working.
“The work doesn’t stop here, though. We keep on going. We have to take each game as it comes as that’s what’s worked so far. Everyone is so hungry, even guys coming off the bench. Look at Dedryck [Boyata] and then Patrick [Roberts] today.
Sinclair took his goal tally for the campaign to 15 with his brace against Hearts and now has his sights set on bettering the 27 he netted as Swansea won promotion to England’s top flight in the 2010/11 “It’s nice to get on the scoresheet,” he said. “We didn’t have a No 9 in the squad with Moussa [Dembele] and Leigh [Griffiths]. Hopefully, that won’t be for long.
“But we were great as a team going forward and we pressed aggressively which the manager wanted us to do.
“I hope I can beat the 27-goal mark but the main thing is to win games.”
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