Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart has insisted that he pays no attention to critics and expects his side to be formidable defensively in pursuit of retaining their Premier League crown.

Hart has admitted that he reads newspapers regularly but believes that it is important to take both praise and criticism in his stride in equal measure.

City have come under fire at times this season but possess the joint-best defensive record in the Premier League, a stat Hart believes can form the basis of a successful title defence in the season's closing stages.

He told The Mirror: "We have one of the best defensive records in the country, we don't concede easily, and we're not exactly falling apart at the seams.

"We know we can improve on our ­defensive record, and if we halve the number of goals we concede in the second half of the campaign, we will be contenders. I've heard the criticisms, I read the papers and I understand people are paid to express an opinion.

"In the past, I've been lucky enough to receive some high praise, but when the experts have a go, I'm usually not particularly interested in what they have got to say. Criticism certainly doesn't affect my life, and whatever the pundits have called me, I'm sure they have been called a lot worse in their day."

Roberto Mancini's men trail league leaders Manchester United by seven points ahead of this weekend's match against Arsenal.