Hart, who had been level with Richard Dunne on 253, has now moved one ahead of the Republic of Ireland international and the 28-year-old now has his sights on a place in the Club’s all-time top 20 league appearance list, though he will have to wait until towards the end of next season to achieve that goal.
Glyn Pardoe is currently in 20th place in the aforementioned list with 305 games for the Blues so Hart still has some way to go to join that list, currently topped by Alan Oakes who made 564 league appearances.
The Premier League top 10 is as follows:
254* - Joe Hart
Hart’s landmark game was one to forget as the Blues slipped to a 3-1 defeat to the Foxes - but he at least overtook Dunne in what is prestigious list of City players.
253 – Richard Dunne
The former City skipper spent nine years with the Blues before moving on to Aston Villa and later, QPR. He was voted MCFC Player of the Year on four occasions – a Club record – and an indication of the esteem he was held in by City fans.
215* – Vincent Kompany
The current City captain would lead this list comfortably but for several spells out with injury during his time at the Club. The Belgian has failed to top 30 starts for the past four seasons – if he had, he would now be nearing the 300-mark for City.
201* – Pablo Zabaleta
One of City’s longest-serving players, Zabaleta clocked up his 201st Premier League appearance against the Foxes as he edges close to Kompany. Zaba would have been third in this list but for injury this campaign.
187* – Yaya Toure
Yaya can reach his double century if he plays all the remaining games in the league this season – he is currently 13 games shy of 200 with the same number of matches to go.
179* - David Silva
City’s Spanish playmaker has clocked up an impressive amount of Premier League appearances during his six years with the Blues, averaging around 30 games per campaign. Injuries have hampered his progress this campaign and his ankle again took a knock in the 3-1 loss to the Foxes.
179 – Micah Richards
At one stage Micah was racing up this list, still aged in his early twenties. But injury and then a loan spell away from the Blues disrupted his appearances tally and he instead is now steadily slipping down this list…
178 – Sylvain Distin
Sylvain stalled at 178 appearances for the Blues – just two more appearances would have vaulted up into the top six. At the heart of the City defence for several seasons, Distin is still playing top-flight football more than eight years after leaving the Club.
178 – Shaun Wright-Phillips
Spread over two spells with City, one of the Blues’ favourite sons remains in the top 10 Premier League appearance list, though over time he has dropped six places as others have passed his tally.
147 – James Milner
Propping up the list is James Milner – soon to be overtaken by Sergio Aguero who should move into the top 10 before the end of the campaign. Milner was a regular member of the first-team squad during his time with the Blues and is closing on 400 Premier League appearances in total.
