The West Ham goalkeeper must impress against Arsenal tonight.
West Ham United face Arsenal away in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals tonight as they look to continue their upward momentum under David Moyes.
Although the club’s main objective is surely to preserve their Premier League status, success in the Carabao Cup would be hugely welcome and would further enhance the belief that Moyes is taking the club in the right direction.
With West Ham in the midst of a hectic schedule, it is likely that Moyes will rotate his side for tonight’s game and he has already confirmed that Joe Hart will start in goal.
Hart has lost his place in the West Ham starting lineup for Premier League fixtures, with Adrian being preferred of late, but Moyes has indicated that the England international will get plenty of games in the remainder of the campaign.
Tonight Hart knows that the spotlight will very much be on him, as a costly error that leads to West Ham being knocked out, for example, would surely damage his chances of getting his place back.
Hart will have to put his experience to good use tonight and should also be careful with his distribution, with many of his passes out from the back this season having led to the opposition gaining possession.
If Hart can produce an impressive display then it could convince Moyes to throw him back into Premier League action, perhaps even as soon as this weekend’s game against Newcastle United, but tonight’s game is certainly very important as far as the goalkeeper’s West Ham career is concerned.
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