Manchester City are exploring the possibility of signing a goalkeeper on a short-term loan after Joe Hart was ruled out for up to four weeks with a badly sprained left ankle.

Hart was forced to withdraw from the England squad to face Germany in Berlin tomorrow evening after suffering the injury during the 2-2 draw away to Hull City on Sunday, but while a scan allayed fears that he had suffered serious ligament damage, his absence has exposed the lack of quality cover the club have in his position.

Kasper Schmeichel was called into action when Hart was injured as he raced out to clear Tal Ben-Haim's underhit back-pass, from which Daniel Cousin scored for Hull, but Mark Hughes, the Manchester City manager, is thought to have misgivings about the 22-year-old Dane's ability at the highest level.

Under Barclays Premier League rules, clubs can be granted special dispensation to sign a player outside of the transfer window in situations where injury has left them in a predicament. Hart is expected to miss his team's next six matches.

Hughes would ideally like to sign Ben Foster, the Manchester United goalkeeper, on loan but the champions are unlikely to allow him to join their city rivals.

Schmeichel's appearance against Hull was his first in the Premier League since September last year, but although he has made eight first-team starts for Manchester City, question marks persist over his handling, with Hughes's concerns about the player heightened by the fact that the team are shipping goals with alarming regularity and that they face Arsenal and United in the league next. The Hull game was the seventh occasion in eight matches that they have conceded at least two goals.

Schmeichel has spent most of the past 2½ years on loan, most recently at Coventry City. His brief spell in the City first team at the start of last season was characterised by some jittery performances, despite the team's impressive start to that campaign.