Capello: Hart has shed arrogance and lack of focus to become No 1

(MIKE HEWITT/GETTY IMAGES)

Fabio Capello has said that Joe Hart has developed into England's No 1 goalkeeper because he has lost the arrogance and lack of focus that he suffered from as a young player.

Hart, 23, was first selected in a squad by Capello for end-of-season friendlies against the United States and Trinidad and Tobago in June 2008. He played the second game but did not feature again until May this year, against Mexico in a World Cup warm-up game. He was outstanding against Bulgaria on Friday, and has now established himself as Capello's first-choice keeper.

Capello said: "He is good. He is young. He can improve. He has to work. I remember when I selected him two years ago, he was not the same player. He did not have the same focus on the games or the training. He probably started to play in the first XI too early and started to think, 'I am the best'.

"You have to understand what happens in the mind of the young player. Sometimes this happens. But in two years he has come back. The most important thing is the quality of the player. After that he can play.

"Always when he was with the Under-21s, his personality was always the same. Now it is really 'up'. He has improved a lot because of the one season he played in the Premier League last year. It was very important. He played every game. It was really important.

"Roberto Mancini has chosen him for Manchester City and I have chosen him for the England team. He improved a lot last year when he played at Birmingham. That was really important. The two keepers we had who stayed with us [including Ben Foster] are in really good form."

Jermain Defoe is also fit to play against Switzerland tomorrow. There was a slight concern over the Spurs striker after he had to be substituted at the end of Friday's game but he has made a full recovery and will travel to Basle today for the team's second Euro 2012 qualifier.