Republic of Ireland keeper Darren Randolph has said he had to move from West Ham to keep his World Cup dream alive.
Randolph moved to Championship club Middlesbrough last week, with the arrival of Joe Hart convincing him his hopes of nailing down the No 1 spot with the Hammers were beyond salvation.
He played 22 Premier League games last season as he battled for selection with Adiran and has remained Martin O'Neill's preferred stopper for Ireland, but Randolph admitted Hart's signing signalled the end of his spell in London, and is now targeting game time with Boro and a ticket to Russia with his country.
Randolph will link up with a familiar face at the Riverside; international team-mate Cyrus Christie became one of Garry Monk's first signings as Boro boss a fortnight ago when he made the switch from Derby County.
"It's a World Cup year, the Republic of Ireland have a good position in the group and if I have any kind of dreams to play in the World Cup then I need to be playing games," Randolph told BBC Tees.
"It wouldn't have happened so often if I stayed at West Ham as it was made clear, so I wasn't going to just sit on the bench and take up a place and possibly miss out on a chance to play at a World Cup.
"I had to do what that was best for me and that happens in football so I had to leave."
Hart arrives at West Ham on a season-long loan after a tough year.
He was deemed surplus to requirements when Pep Guardiola arrived at Manchester City last summer and shipped out to Serie A outfit Torino.
Despite City having their own goalkeeper problems, it's obvious Hart has no future at the Etihad Stadium and he'll look to prove Guardiola wrong on his return to the Premier League this term.
