England goalkeeper Joe Hart admits Manchester City's sublime start to the season is a mixed blessing because he has been reduced to a spectator for long periods.
Although Hart has conceded three goals in City's first three Premier League matches, the 24-year-old has hardly been over-worked as Roberto Mancini's men have dominated possession and destroyed opponents with their free-flowing style.
Rampant City have scored 12 times and Hart has had to work hard on his concentration to ensure he doesn't slip up on the rare occasions he is called into action.
Although critics of Fabio Capello's inconsistent England might suggest otherwise, it's possible a lack of activity could also be a problem for Hart during England's forthcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Wales.
England travel to Bulgaria on Friday having won 4-0 when the sides met earlier in qualifying, while Wales -- visitors to Wembley on Tuesday -- were easily beaten 2-0 in Cardiff in March.
At least Hart will be well prepared if he becomes an unwilling fan again.
"Obviously I'm not really touching the ball a lot. It has been a long way away from the goal a lot of the time," Hart said.
"It's been exciting. It's pretty good to watch and be a part of but it's quite hard to concentrate as well.
"We are developing our side and I'm learning how to play in a side like this."
Having to deal with City's dazzling collection of attacking talents, including Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko, Carlos Tevez, Samir Nasri and David Silva, in training every day could shatter the morale of a less confident keeper than Hart.
Such is the quality of their shooting he has to pick the ball out of the net on a regular basis in training even if he has done nothing wrong.
"It messes with your head sometimes. You go for one ball and it's come through three or four people before you've even dived," Hart said.
"But it's going to help me as a keeper to improve playing around these good strikers and the passing football that goes on."
Hart has never been short of belief though and he was quick to play down suggestions that his year as Capello's unchallenged number one, which started with a qualifier against Bulgaria in September 2010, has been a career-defining period.
"I still feel like the same person," Hart said. "I've played a few more games and a few more important games. I've had good times, had bad times and I'm just looking forward to the games.
"I think England has a new group of players which has developed over the last year or so and we are going into it positively and looking to get another good performance."
Once Hart is finished with his England duties, he will refocus on helping City challenge for the Premier League title.
Praise has been showered on his team after their flying start, but he is well aware that could all change quickly if they show signs of slipping.
"They're only opinions and it's all rosy at the moment. We've won three games and people say 'rah, rah, they're brilliant', but we understand we've got a long, long way ahead of us and it's by no means sure we're going to be passing it round like that for the rest of the season," Hart said.
"People will be coming up with game plans to play against us and we're going to have to adjust what we do we understand that.
"It's all very well playing nice football but we're out there to win the game."
Source: AFP
