Manuel Pellegrini has praised Joe Hart for having the character to bounce back when he hit rock bottom.
But the Manchester City manager believes the way everyone at the club rallied around the goalkeeper helped him find form again after a traumatic start to the season.
Hart was at fault when Franck Ribery opened the scoring for Bayern Munich against City in the Champions League earlier this month, which followed errors earlier in the season allowing Cardiff’s Fraizer Campbell and Aston Villa’s Andreas Weimann to score against his club and Scotland’s James Morrison to net against England.
But Hart played well for England in their World Cup qualifiers against Poland and Montenegro and Pellegrini said: “I think both games for him were very, very important. He was in his worst moment before the two international games. I think that he showed that he has the personality to do well even in his worst moments. I suppose he will improve in confidence and all of us trust him.”
Hart appeared emotional at the end of City’s last game, where although some felt he was culpable for Romelu Lukaku’s goal, his team-mates recovered to beat Everton 3-1. And Pellegrini, who had considered dropping Hart, said his response convinced him he was right to keep faith with the 26-year-old.
He added: “I am sure that I made the right decision to keep him and Joe showed me it was the best decision.
“It was all together – the fans, the other players and the staff. All were very close with him because it was a very difficult moment.”
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