Hart lauds England defenders as ´warriors´

Joe Hart has given the “warriors” in England’s defence a vote of confidence ahead of the side’s FIFA World Cup opener against Italy.

Having been drawn in a tricky Group D with the Italians, Uruguay and Costa Rica, England have a tough task on their hands to progress to the knockout phase.

Regardless of how far England actually go in the competition, Roy Hodgson’s defence and goalkeepers will need to be on form and Hart has no doubts that they are up to the challenge.

Hart, who had an inconsistent season at club level with Manchester City before finishing the campaign well, is adamant that England’s back four are more than ready to put on a good show on the world stage.

“(They are) very strong, work well together,” the 27-year-old said. “Off the field, I can’t talk highly enough of them, great guys, people that I get on with personally and on the field (they are) warriors and ready to step up when required.

“I think we understand our role as the defensive part of this unit and with the flair and excitement up front, we need to lock it down at the back and try and keep it as tight as we can.

“We’ve all been in football a long time, we’ve got really established players.

“Gaz (Gary) Cahill has lifted the Champions League trophy, (Phil) Jagielka is the captain of Everton, (Leighton) Bainesy has played hundreds of games in the Premier League and obviously Johno (Glen Johnson) is the same and the (other) boys there Chris Smalling is doing good things at (Manchester) United with Phil Jones, two young players coming up and Luke (Shaw) has obviously had a great season so we all bring our little bits to the party.”