Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Heskey considers future as England ring the changes

England striker Emile Heskey may leave Aston Villa during the January transfer window in a bid to cement his place at next year's World Cup.

The 31 year old has been a regular under national boss Fabio Capello but has struggled to break into the Villa first team of late and may now decide that a transfer is the best option.

"I will have to sit down and think about my next move," said Heskey.

"I don't know whether I can get a World Cup place if I'm not playing for Villa."

His concerns appear well founded, with Capello previously stating that his players should be fully fit and playing regular football if they are to make his squad. Heskey is not currently fulfilling the second criterion and fears that he may find his international future in jeopardy if the situation doesn't change soon.

He continued: "I'm happy to be playing for England and, obviously, not playing at club level is difficult,

"It's something I will have to look at when I get back and try to address it."

In the meantime, it does seem likely that Heskey will start England's next match at home to Belarus, as fellow striker Wayne Rooney has withdrawn from the squad with a calf injury.

Rooney picked up the knock in Saturday's defeat to Ukraine and is one of a number of players set to miss the final World Cup qualifying match.

Also sidelined is goalkeeper Robert Green, who is suspended and Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, who is a doubt with a groin problem.

Green was sent off against Ukraine after bringing down Artem Milevskiy and he is likely to be replaced by David James. Manchester United's Ben Foster has also been drafted into the squad.

Source: ScoresPro.com

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