Joe Hart is preparing for the possibility that he will be required to start for Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby against Arsenal on Sunday, football.london understands.
The 33-year-old goalkeeper played between the sticks on Thursday night for Spurs in their 3-3 draw at LASK in the Europa League.
Now football.london understands that the former England international is in contention to start back to back matches for Spurs, due to fitness concerns over Tottenham skipper Hugo Lloris.
The French World Cup winner missed last week's trip to Ludogorets through illness but returned and impressed against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last weekend.
However, Lloris was not among the travelling squad as Tottenham flew out to Austria on Wednesday afternoon, leaving Jose Mourinho with 11 substitutes on the bench rather than the 12 permitted, although two of those were young homegrown goalkeepers Alfie Whiteman and Brandon Austin.
Tottenham have not confirmed whether or not Lloris is carrying an injury, but there is understood to be uncertainty over whether he will be available to face Arsenal.
It would be the first time Hart has played in the Premier League since December 26, 2018, when he conceded five goals for Burnley in a heavy defeat at home to Everton.
Hart drew some criticism on Thursday night for his involvement in two of the goals Spurs conceded against LASK and he will need to step up if he has to fill the void left by Lloris, who has been in excellent form in the past six months.
Hart is above Paulo Gazzaniga in the pecking order at Tottenham, appearing on the bench ahead of the Argentine throughout this season in the Premier League and starting in European while the 28-year-old was left out of the club's Europa League squad due to Spurs being over their foreign player limit.
Mourinho expects to have Harry Kane, Sergio Reguilon and Carlos Vinicius back fit for the derby on Sunday and a decision will be made over Toby Alderweireld ahead of the game, while Erik Lamela is expected to remain out.
