Peter Schmeichel has warned Joe Hart that he could be sucked into England goalkeeping obscurity if he is not careful at Euro2012.
The Manchester City gloveman is set to mind the net for the Three Lions with the first Group D match to take place this afternoon against France in Donetsk but Schmeichel has implored him to step up to avoid past failures of English keepers.
"But you just have to look back in history to see how difficult it can be to be England's goalkeeper in a tournament.
"It's the biggest thing he's done in his career up till now. If he can maintain the level that he's shown so far it will make him.
"But for any England goalkeeper, a European Championships or World Cup can break them.
"Goalkeepers make mistakes all the time and more often than not nobody notices, but they see the mistakes that cost you goals. Everyone knows what happened to Robert Green [at the World Cup in 2010]. It's taken him a long time to recover. You have to remove those mistakes from your game."
He added: "This is the right moment for him to take the next step.
"In the absence of Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Gary Cahill, England need their big players to play well and Joe is one of them. He is a born leader and has to bring his A-game.""Joe Hart is incredibly talented and has done very well since coming into the Premier League," he told the Daily Mail.
