VIDEO: Perfect timing
By Nicholas Veevers
Wednesday, 31 August, 2011
Joe Hart believes international games are here at just the right time.
Click here to watch video of the press conference.
England goalkeeper Joe Hart believes the first international games of the new campaign have arrived at the perfect time for Fabio Capello and his men.
With many of the squad selected to face Bulgaria and Wales over the next week being in good form for their clubs in the early stages of the Premier League, Hart is now hoping that they can take that into the international arena as the Euro qualifying campaign re-starts on Friday.
"Everyone's feeling good and we've had some tough 90 minutes and games for our clubs, so we're coming into a good training week and will be ready for the game on Friday,” said the Manchester City man.
"We're getting towards the business end of the group now where wins are vital and it's going to be tough in Bulgaria, but it's a game that we're looking forward to.
"We've got a lot of players in good form at the moment so we're going to go out there and try to win the game as best we can.”
Hart knows that it’s not going to be an easy encounter for the Three Lions though, with Bulgaria boasting a number of stars plying their trade in top leagues around Europe.
"Bulgaria have some good quality players,” he added. “They have two players that we know well in the Petrovs (Stylian and Martin) and I have a lot of time for the goalkeeper as well, so they have a good, strong squad and any away game for England is tough. It will be the same on Friday.”
England go into this double-header, playing Bulgaria and then Wales on Tuesday, knowing that if they can come away with six points then it puts qualification in their own hands ahead of October’s trip to Montenegro for the final match of the group.
But Hart and his squad-mates are just taking on the old adage of a 'game at a time' as they prepare to fly to Sofia on Thursday morning.
"It's really tight at the minute and there's a few of us who could qualify,” he explained. “I would imagine Montenegro will be looking to get another positive result, as will Bulgaria and Switzerland.
"Everyone wants to win, but we're focusing on Friday first and three points is something that we really want.”