Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon will face his former club Sunderland at the Stadium of Light this afternoon.
Sunderland will play in the Championship during the 2017-18 campaign after getting relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2016-17 season.
The Black Cats will be one of the top sides aiming to clinch a place in the playoffs, and Gordon hopes that they get promoted to the English top flight.
The 34-year-old Scotland international was on the books of Sunderland from 2007 until 2012 following a move from Scottish side Heart of Midlothian.
Gordon endured a frustrating spell at the Stadium of Light as he suffered with injuries, but he is looking forward to playing against his former club this weekend.
Scottish Premiership giants Celtic and Championship outfit Sunderland will face each other at the Stadium of Light in the Dafabet Cup on Saturday afternoon.
“It is a shame they are not in the Premier League because they are a great club,” Gordon told The Scottish Sun about Sunderland. “I hope they can get back there as soon as possible. That stadium, the set-up they have got, they deserve to be there.”
“We managed to stay in the league for the five years I was there,” Gordon told Celtic’s official website about his spell at Sunderland. “I had a few injury problems.
“Although I played quite well in between the injuries, I never really got a long enough stretch injury-free to really show what I could do.
“It was probably the most frustrating part of my career as I felt it was a good move at the time to go into the Premier League down south and show what I could do.”
Celtic will be aiming to win the Scottish Premiership, the Scottish League Cup and the Scottish Cup next season.
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