Hart ache for City keeper

Mancini undecided on where young shot-stopper stands

Last updated: 29th July 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Hart ache for City keeper

Hart: International ambitions

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Roberto Mancini admits England hopeful Joe Hart could find himself restricted to back-up duty this season.

The 23-year-old goalkeeper is back at Manchester City after spending the whole of last season on loan at Birmingham City.

He thoroughly enjoyed his time at St Andrews, with regular first-team football allowing him to flourish.

Hart was named in the Premier League Team of the Year for 2009/10 and saw a number of assured displays rewarded with a place in England's World Cup squad.

The youngster had hoped to carry that fine form into the new campaign, having decided to stick with City rather than head out on loan once more.

He knew that he faced a battle to remove the consistent Shay Given from the No.1 spot, but felt he had done enough at Birmingham to earn an opportunity to impress.

Rotate

Things could, however, play out rather differently, with Given close to shaking off a shoulder problem and Blues boss Mancini revealing that he is yet to make his mind up on where Hart stands in his short-term plans.

"Joe Hart will be first-choice goalkeeper for the next 10 years for England," said the Italian coach.

"I don't know if he will be my first-choice, it depends. I will pick the players who deserve to play.

"I don't know if I will rotate the players, it depends. At the start of the season I will decide who is No. 1.

"Shay is not fit at the moment. He is not 100 per cent ready to go in goal but we must wait and be patient because it was not a small problem, it was a big problem two months ago and we have a month more."