Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart says he is ‘man enough’, to accept being dropped following his spell on the side-lines earlier this season.
Hart was replaced by Costel Pantilimon in the starting line-up in November following a string of costly errors before being restored to the first team in December.
But speaking to the BBC ahead of Saturday’s Captial One Cup final the 26-year-old said he could handle Manuel Pellegrini’s decision.
“You have to be able to accept when you are playing or not,” Hart said.
“After being dropped I just did what I always did – I went and trained hard and listened to what the manager had to say and knuckled down and got on with my job to the best of my ability.
“When managers have got decisions to make, whether it benefits me or not, I have to be man enough to take it.”
With City pushing hard in the league and the FA Cup, Hart recognises that it takes a full squad to fight on all fronts.
“It is for the manager to decide. Costel has played most of the games and done well and played brilliant and not conceded a goal,” he continued.
“It is a squad game, which I am learning more and more as I get older and the more and more I am involved in such a great side and squad.
“The manager is making a lot of good decisions at the moment and whether it is myself or Costel, we will play our hearts out for the team to get the result.”
Image courtesy of football.ua, via Wikimedia Commons, with thanks.
