Craig Gordon: My old Hearts team mate Marius Zaliukas was a great guy and a leader

Gordon pulled off a string of important saves at Hampden to help ensure the Tynecastle club defeated their Edinburgh rivals after extra-time and booked a final place against either Aberdeen or Celtic next month.

However, the Scotland internationalist’s happiness at his personal performance and joy at the result was short-lived – he was told that Lithuanian defender Zaliukas had passed away just 36 following the final whistle.

“I'm quite emotional about Marius,” he said. “He was a great guy in the dressing-room, a real leader. He was the exact type of centre half you'd want in front of you whether it was a match or 5-asides.

“He'd always throw his body on the line. He was a real, hard defender. I played many games with him, he was fantastic for Hearts.

“I was very sad to hear the news as I'm sure he'd have been absolutely delighted with today's result. I feel for his family at this time. It would be fitting if we could go on and win it for him now.

“We've given ourselves the chance to go and do that now, whoever we play. We'll give it our best shot.”

Gordon, who returned to Championship club Hearts in the summer after failing to agree terms on a new contract with Celtic, admitted the victory had been satisfying for him personally

He also admitted that Robbie Neilson’s players had used their relegation back in May – they were consigned to the drop when the Premiership was curtailed because of the coronavirus pandemic – as motivation in the build-up to the game

“It's huge for myself and the club because of everything that went on with the relegation, the voting and everything else in the last few months,” he said. “This was our chance to come back and make a statement.

“We came back in pre-season early to give ourselves as many weeks as possible because we knew we'd be up against it in terms of getting up to speed. We gave ourselves the best possible chance and we've come out on top.”

“We'll use it as motivation, we'll use anything we can. We do feel it. It's not just us as players, it's fans and people connected with the club who feel we were treated unfairly. If we can use that to our advantage, we'll do it for as long as I can.

Gordon continued: “For myself, to come away from Celtic and get back playing – this is why. To play in games like this and thankfully today it's worked out with a really good result for us.

“This is up there with my best days in the game. Just because of the magnitude of what it meant for the club. I made some good saves in the game and we've won it.

“Sometimes when you lose the game the saves don't matter quite as much. But today to make a contribution that helps get the win is massive for me and everyone at Hearts.

“You never know if you'll get these chances or occasions again when you leave Celtic. But I still had confidence in my own ability. I feel I can go out and prove that I'm still capable at nearly 38. Age is no barrier, I can still perform for a few years yet.

“The first save from (Kevin) Nisbet's header was big to keep it at 0-0. Hibs were having a good spell at that point in the first half.

“That was a big one to keep a foothold in the game. I'm not entirely sure how I kept it out because it was so quick. I got a good hand on it and turned it to the side of the post. It was a really good save, one I'm very proud of.”

Steve Clarke announces his Scotland squad for the Euro 2020 play-off final against Serbia in Belgrade on November 12 this week and Gordon, who was named Man of the Match after the semi-final, is hoping he has one enough to be included in it.

“I'd love to be in the Scotland squad for Serbia,” he said. “I came away to try and play games and give myself the opportunity to be in there. I've been playing well so I'm happy and confident in my own performances. That's all I can do.

“Beyond that it's up to the manager to make a decision. The team has been doing really well so I'll respect whatever that decision is.”