Joe Hart aims to leave his recent troubles behind and repay the faith shown in him by Celtic, who could give him his debut in the Czech Republic this evening.
The former England goalkeeper, who signed a three-year deal on Tuesday, is with his new team-mates for the first leg of their Europa League third qualifying round tie against Jablonec.
It is a fresh start for the 34-year-old whose trophy-laden career has unravelled since he was dropped by Manchester City five years ago. Loan spells with Torino and West Ham United, followed by permanent moves to Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur, proved to be unsuccessful.
Hart has not played in an English Premier League game since December 2018, but he was a regular in Europe with Spurs last season and believes he is ready to hit the ground running with Ange Postecoglou’s side.
“I feel fantastic,” he said. “I’ve had some high level training at Spurs. People are always going to have opinions in this game and if you want to find reasons to look good or not look good then it’s pretty easy. All I know is that I’ve got belief in what I can do. And I’m hopefully going to repay the fact that Celtic reached out and put all this faith in me.”
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Hart has been heavily criticised for mistakes made at club and international level, including against Scotland, but he is no longer motivated by a desire to prove people wrong. “There was a point in my life when that would have really itched at me and frustrated me," he said. “But I’ve quickly matured and realised you’re never going to please everyone. It’s impossible.
“I’ve had some serious looks in the mirror over how I’m going to go about things and how I’m going to work on myself as a goalkeeper and I feel comfortable, I really do. I want to do well for myself, my team and my family. That’s my burning desire.”
Asked if he could rehabilitate his career with the help of Stephen Woods, Celtic’s goalkeeping coach, Hart replied: “We kind of discussed it last night, this whole kind of getting back to something. We agreed it was a waste of time. The past is the past. If I want to reference it in a good way then, obviously, I’ve had highs. If I want to reference it in a bad way then there have been lows. But there’s only a desire to move forward right now and try to make me the best goalkeeper I can be. That’s the plan.”
Hart had the option to stay behind in Glasgow, but he chose instead to join Celtic in the Czech Republic, where he had his first training session yesterday.
While Celtic's other new signing, midfielder James McCarthy, has not travelled, the experienced goalkeeper could be picked instead of Scott Bain and Vasilis Barkas this evening. “I’d like to think I’m ready to play,” said Hart. “It’s down to the manager.”