THERE was no shortage of doubters when Burnley spent £4million on Joe Hart this summer.

The Clarets were already well stocked with goalkeepers, even if Nick Pope had just suffered a dislocated shoulder and Tom Heaton was shaking off a minor calf problem, while Hart's stock had plummeted in two years away from Manchester City on loan.

'He's finished', seemed to be the general perception on the 31-year-old, whose signing even attracted bizarre criticism from Andy Gray on beIN Sports, who aged the 75-cap England goalkeeper by four years in questioning the wisdom of signing somehow who was '35 plus'.

But Hart is proving the doubters and critics wrong by the week at Turf Moor, impressing again at Cardiff City to take the TV man of the match award in Burnley's 2-1 win.

He's keeping Tom Heaton on the bench at the moment, with Nick Pope set for a return around Christmas, but Sean Dyche believes Hart has risen to the challenge at Turf Moor and is thriving at finding a 'base' again.

"I think he maybe needed a base again. Going on loan is a different thing, it can work magnificently or be a real challenge," Dyche said of his in-form goalkeeper.

"I can assure you one thing, he didn’t come for the money. He wanted to play, to test himself with a different kind of group.

"He walked in with open eyes and he knows it’s not a walk in the park. He’s taken on the challenge and I think he’s enjoying it."

Hart's chance to play came about after Heaton's calf injury, following the club captain's own recovery from a dislocated shoulder.

But he's kept the shirt since with a string of fine performances, banishing the memory of his disappointing campaign at West Ham last season.

"When I spoke to him about coming in I said he’d be free to play," Dyche said. "He had a start due to injuries that we had but there’s a big demand here, there’s a group of goalkeepers who are demanding and he’s risen to that.

"He’s a quality goalkeeper, but so are Tom Heaton, Nick Pope, Adam Legzdins and Anders Lindegaard."

Hart made two sharp saves at Cardiff, denying Kenneth Zohore in the first half and Josh Murphy in the second, although Dyche expected his goalkeeper to make the latter, even if it looked spectacular.

"There was a good save in the first half down to his left," Dyche said.

""He would feel that (Murphy shot) was savable, I was more impressed in coming off his line to dominate the box. I thought he did that a number of times and managed to get something on it even when it looked he might not, he still managed to get the go-go-gadget arm out and get a touch on it.

"The goalkeepers we’ve got are all very, very good. They would expect to save them ones (Murphy). I’m very demanding of them, unless it’s double world class they don’t get that much praise."