Joe Hart Showing A Winner's Mentality After Being Dropped, But Should He Start vs Tottenham?

It has been a tough first half of the season for Manchester City shot-stopper Joe Hart, as a loss in confidence and crucial mistakes have been present in the England number one's game. This has seen Man City boss Manuel Pellegrini look to his second keeper Carles Pantillimon to play in City's previous league and champions league matches, both of which Manchester City won.

Yet Hart's valiant return between the sticks for England has given him a well needed confidence boost. Although England fell short with a o1-0 defeat after a Per Mertesacker cannon of a header into the far corner, Hart returned with a confident and commanding 90 minutes leaving speculation as to whether he will return for Manchester City in their upcoming league match against Tottenham this weekend.

It is not irregular for the best keepers in the world to suffer confidence slumps throughout their career. Hart's predicament is similar to that of David De Gea faced in his first season at United seeing him lose his spot to secondary keeper Anders Lindegaard. Even now, Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas is finding it hard to keep the position between the posts at Real Madrid due to a run of poor form.

Yet this is may only be a poor patch for Hart after numerous seasons of saving some of the best strikes from top players worldwide. You only need to look at a Joe Hart highlight real to see that he has the skill set to make him one of the best in the world at the present time. Although being a goalkeeper does come with its negatives - as Hart is finding at the moment, all it takes is a few mistakes that cost goals and it can lead to a loss of confidence.

After a return to form with the national side it will be interesting to see whether Manuel Pellegrini will bring back Hart in this weekend's game against Spurs, or will Hart have to face another stint on the bench and continue to regain his position?

Alex Elleman