The City No.1 kept his 100th Premier League clean sheet against West Brom last weekend and if he plays against Lithuania on Friday and Italy next Tuesday, he will become only the sixth England keeper to reach a half-century.
Illustrious names such as Peter Shilton, Gordon Banks, David Seaman, David James and Ray Clemence are ahead of Joe in the all-time list with James currently just five caps ahead.
Typically, Hart isn’t taking anything for granted.
“I could potentially get 50 caps,” said Joe. “I am knocking on those kinds of tallies at the moment which is exciting.
I am honoured to play every single game I have done for England and for it to be 48 so far is fantastic but I just want to keep playing
...Joe Hart...
“I’m a soldier, I’m a player. I just want to play as much as I can for my team and for my country and that’s all I can put my focus on.”
And with the Premier League landmark reached and 300 appearances for City closing in, Joe admits he wants to keep breaking records for many years to come.
“I don’t ever see any end,” he said. “I don’t want there to be an end. You can’t finish one game and think: ‘that is me sorted’, I want to keep going, I keep preparing for games and hopefully I keep playing in them.
“I have got a lot of hard work to do to keep my place and I am willing to do that. I’m a soldier, I’m a player. I just want to play as much as I can for my team and for my country and that’s all I can put my focus on right now.”
Speaking on his current form and how he overcame a difficult period last year, Hart added: “It was a situation for me where football didn’t go the way I wanted it. I was out of the team but I still had a good relationship with the manager, worked hard on what I felt I needed to work hard on and came back into the team.
“My aim when I came back into the team was to fit back in. I didn’t want to come back and make 50 saves and make an arrival. I just wanted to get back into the flow of playing games consistently and well.”
And on Lionel Messi’s recent ‘phenomenon’ quote after the defeat against Barcelona, he said: “He is a fantastic player and for him to comment on me is great - but I’m not getting carried away.”
