Aston Villa Football Club News

• Nickname:The Villains
• Founded:1874
• Manager:Alex McLeish

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O'Neill unhappy over Heskey

14 Feb 2009 - 10:30:40

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Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has revealed his disappointment with England coach Fabio Capello after Emile Heskey started the midweek friendly against Spain.

Heskey arrived at the England training camp with an Achilles problem and was rumoured to be struggling to play any part in the friendly.

But after starting the 2-0 defeat in Seville and playing for 45 minutes, the striker is now a major doubt for Villa's FA Cup fifth round meeting with Everton on Sunday to the annoyance of O'Neill.

"Emile has aggravated his Achilles. I was surprised he started the England game. He had come off against Blackburn last weekend," he said.

"The ruling now is that you go down and be assessed at international level by the international medical team.

"Knowing Emile, he would have wanted to have gone down there and played in a bit of discomfort but I was surprised he played considering he wouldn't have been fully fit.

"I didn't speak to Fabio Capello beforehand. I would have thought those things would have been pretty straightforward.

"Emile has come back, he didn't train today, the Achilles is particularly sore at this minute. If the game was this minute, he couldn't play.

"It was a friendly international at the end of it all. I can understand it if it was a qualifying game because they are very important to the well-being of the country.

"But you would have thought rest this particular week would have been the order of the day.

"I have spoken to the England doctor and voiced some concerns and I will speak to the manager.

"My take on it is, if someone is not fully fit to play in a game, you are not going to get the best out of them."