Hart hopes for England call

Joe Hart admits it will be 'a dream come true' if he is selected for England's World Cup squad.

Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish has given the Manchester City goalkeeper his full backing to go to South Africa this summer after an impressive campaign on loan at St Andrews.

Hart may have played his final game for Blues in Sunday's 2-1 defeat at Bolton and the 23-year-old has been instrumental their success as they finished ninth in the Premier League.

Hart now hopes he impressed enough to make Fabio Capello's initial 30-man squad, which will be announced on Tuesday.

"I just hope I can get into the squad. That's been my main aim all season - to perform well for Birmingham and hopefully that will result in me getting into the shake-up at the end it," he told Sky Sports.

"I'd like to think I'm in the shake-up when he (Capello) announces the squad in the next couple of days. It would be ideal to be in it - it would be a dream come true."

McLeish insists Hart has come on leaps and bounds since he joined Birmingham on a season-long stint last year and claims the young shot-stopper has proved he is good enough to be the Three Lions' No.1.

"At the start of the season there was a couple of things Joe had to iron out and he improved in every aspect," said the City manager.

"Even though he was in the England squad before he came here to Birmingham, he's improved and he fully deserves to be there and he's a better goalkeeper than last season."