Caballero eyes redemption as City wait on Hart

Willy Caballero is ready to put his previous nightmare Premier League appearance behind him if Joe Hart’s hamstring injury rules the England goalkeeper out of Manchester City’s match against Southampton.

Caballero replaced Hart during the closing stages of Wednesday’s 1-0 Champions League loss to Juventus and he could be in line to make a second league start of the season on Saturday.

When Caballero last deputised for Hart in the Premier League, City suffered a chastening 4-1 loss at Tottenham in September as the Argentinian goalkeeper turned in an error-strewn display.

Caballero played under City boss Manuel Pellegrini at Malaga but has been unable to dislodge Hart – the Juventus cameo standing as his 11th senior appearance since moving to the Etihad Stadium before the 2014-15 season.

And the 34-year-old conceded that life can be unforgiving when an understudy keeper slips up.

“Always when you play badly or commit errors, you hope to play another game to put it behind you, to show that you are capable and that you deserve to be playing for an important team like City,” he told reporters. “Hopefully that chance will come and I will be able to do that.

“Of course it is not good that Joe had to come off, but I have to be prepared – that is the life of a substitute goalkeeper. Next time I am needed to play 15 or 20 minutes I will be ready, whenever that might be, but of course we hope that Joe recovers.

“He is a goalkeeper of the very highest level and he is playing very, very well. It is a nice opportunity for me to play a couple of games consecutively.

“But that depends on how Joe is and then it is up to the manager. I will train and I will be ready.”

Caballero added: “In my last[match], I made a mistake, but these things can happen even if you’re playing every week. 

“What happened to me, when I have not had the chance to avenge that error the following week, the whole world still thinks about it. But what is important is to be calm and work every day and wait.”