Joe Hart will be dropped for Manchester City’s Premier League clash with Norwich on Saturday.
Manuel Pellegrini has opted to give Costel Pantilimon another chance to stake his claim for the No.1 spot after an impressive display during Wednesday’s Capital One Cup victory over Newcastle.
Hart has already been informed of his manager’s decision to leave him out, and Pantilimon trained behind City’s first-choice defence on Friday.
England’s No.1 has endured growing criticism for a series of costly errors in recent weeks, culminating in the misunderstanding with Matija Nastasic which gifted Fernando Torres a late winner for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last Sunday.
On Monday Goal revealed Pellegrini first considered dropping Hart after his error-strewn display against Bayern Munich, amid concerns about his mistakes and failure to improve his distribution.
In his pre-match press conference on Friday, the Chilean insisted whoever did not start against Norwich would retain his “full support”, but his loss of confidence in Hart is a setback for the player and Roy Hodgson.