Scott Carson has been handed a first Manchester City start by Pep Guardiola this evening.
The newly-crowned Premier League champions take on Newcastle United at St James' Park and the City boss has sprung a huge surprise in his starting line-up by including the veteran goalkeeper.
Former Leeds and Liverpool shot-stopper Carson, 35, has been on loan from Derby County for the past two seasons and has been City's third-choice goalkeeper.
An extremely popular member of the squad behind the scenes, Carson makes his City debut and plays in the Premier League for the first time since he turned out for West Brom in May 2011 - 3645 days ago.
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Having found out the news yesterday, he did all the mandatory pre-match media duties and there were shouts of "Go on Scotty" from his teammates.
Carson, who has been capped four times by England, becomes the 60th player to make an appearance for City under Guardiola.
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He and the rest of the City side are expected to receive a guard of honour from Steve Bruce's Newcastle as they enter the pitch.
In November, Carson revealed his desire to play at least one game for City - mainly to shut Kyle Walker up.
With his cameo in goal against Atalanta, Walker regularly mentions the fact that he's played in net for City more times than Carson.
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"Kyle always tells me he has more goalkeeping appearances than me for Manchester City," Carson told ESPN FC.
"That's another reason why I want to get at least one game during my time here!"
He was given a tour of the Etihad Stadium for his secret Santa gift and took it surprisingly well.
"I'm one of the first to give stick to the lads," Carson added.
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"So they take the piss with me too. But I love that."
At the moment Carson is the only member of the City squad with a Champions League winners medal but that could all change at the end of the month in Porto.
Featured Image Credit:Topics:Β Manchester City, Derby County, Football
