Joe Hart will play his first Premier League game since late October at Fulham on Saturday afternoon after being reinstated as the Manchester City No1 by the manager, Manuel Pellegrini.

Hart was dropped following the mistake that allowed Fernando Torres to score the later winner in Chelsea's 2-1 victory over City at Stamford Bridge on 27 October. Pellegrini's decision to leave Hart out followed a series of errors for City and England that continued his uneven form of the last year.

Since the gaffe at Chelsea Hart has played only three times for City – in two dead Champions League rubbers and Tuesday evening's Capital One Cup quarter-final win at Leicester City. The 26-year-old also started in England's 1-0 friendly defeat by Germany at Wembley on 19 November as Roy Hodgson, the manager, kept faith in Hart as his first choice for the national team.

However, in what is a World Cup season, with the finals in Brazil next summer, Hodgson had hinted that Hart would have to be playing regular first-team football to continue as his No1.

Hart's selection at Fulham will be welcomed by Hodgson. It comes after Pellegrini had kept his cards close to his chest when asked during his pre-game Friday media briefing whether Hart would be given a chance to re-establish himself. "I will see what happens every week," the Chilean said.

Pellegrini, it seems, has assessed Costel Pantilimon's performance in City's 6-3 win over Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium last Saturday and decided there was enough evidence to suggest he should allow Hart back in. The Romanian dropped a couple of regulation high balls when under little pressure and appeared unsettled at other moments of the game.

Given that Pantilimon had been ready to consider his future at the club over the January transfer window, before being handed the chance in City's first team by Pellegrini, the keeper may again decide to do so. This prospect will be strengthened if Pantilimon takes the view that he did little wrong during an eight-game run in which City lost only once and he kept three clean sheets.

Pellegrini will hope that Hart's extended time out of the team will have allowed him to refocus and rediscover the form that has won him the Premier League Golden Glove award for the most clean sheets in the past three seasons.

Vincent Kompany has urged City to show they are the "real deal" during the festive period, with the captain warning that the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup can all be lost during the busy Christmas and new year programme.

After Fulham City host Liverpool on Boxing Day and Crystal Palace two days later. They then make the trips to Swansea City on 1 January and Blackburn Rovers for the FA Cup third-round tie on 4 January, before the Capital One Cup semi-final first leg with West Ham United three days later.

"Nothing is won in December but a lot could be lost in December," Kompany told the Manchester Evening News. "At the moment we are doing the right things but nothing more than that. This is my sixth season in the Premier League and every time this has been the period when you start realising which teams might go on and win it and which teams aren't maybe the real deal.

"You don't win anything but you could lose the Capital One Cup, the FA Cup and you could lose two or three games and be out of the title race. That is what is at stake. Games come thick and fast. If you have bad form, it can cost you at this time of the season. We've not won anything yet. We're behind three points [in the league] so you have to reboot every single time and put yourself back on track. You can't consider yourself a great team if you can't do that.

"I believe this is also why you want to be a Man City player. If you don't have that ambition then Man City is not the right club for you. We have done well so far but the Fulham game becomes the most important game of the season now.."

For Saturday's visit to Craven Cottage Manuel Pellegrini will have no recognised right-back as Pablo Zabaleta has a hamstring injury, the same issue which also rules Micah Richards out. The manager may decide to move James Milner back or field Dedryck Boyata or Aleksandar Kolarov in the position.