O´Neill anger at Heskey´s England start

Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill plans showdown talks with England coach Fabio Capello after admitting he was surprised that Emile Heskey started Wednesday’s friendly against Spain.

Heskey, 31, suffered an Achilles injury during Villa’s win at Blackburn last weekend, but was declared fit enough to play by the England medical staff.

The former Liverpool star lasted only 48 minutes of the 2-0 defeat in Seville before coming off and has now suffered a reaction to the problem.

He has been unable to train since returning to Villa and is a major doubt for Sunday’s FA Cup fifth round tie at Everton.

O’Neill cannot understand why Heskey was risked in a non-competitive game and will speak to Capello to let him know his feelings.

“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,” O’Neill said.

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

“If you are fully fit to play, I don’t have a problem and you take your chance. If you have been suffering from something a couple of days before, then I think a bit of care should be taken.

“Emile has come back, he didn’t train on Friday, 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.

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