Emile Heskey says that he may be forced to move from Aston Villa in order to keep his hopes of playing at the World Cup alive. Heskey has not been able to have a significant impact at Villa Park, due to his inconsistent starting place in the team.

Martin O’Neill brought him to Aston Villa with the aspirations of helping him find the form that he showed when he was a Liverpool regular and terrorising defences with Michael Owen.

Heskey has also been in and out of Fabio Capello’s England side and many have started saying that unless he bucks up his ideas very quickly then he will miss out on a chance to seal a place on the plan to South Africa.

He said: “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.”

“That’s what I mean. I will have to sit down and think about my next move. I don’t know whether I can get a World Cup place if I’m not playing for Villa. The manager [Capello] hasn’t really spoken to me about it. I just have to keep performing well in training and keep going. But you always wonder about those kind of things, whether it will affect my chances. I will just have to try to address it when the time is right.”

“I’m never going to give up. It’s just another hurdle I have to get over. I just have to try and keep my spirits up at Villa. I must keep going, keep training hard and then just try to address it. We will see what happens. But you would have to ask the manager [O'Neill] why I’m not playing.”

Heskey’s options are very simple. If he wants a move from Villa then he can submit a request in late December and make himself available for the January window. However. This is very risky.

If he lets it out that he wants to go before December then he could end up being shunned by all connected to Villa. If January comes and goes and no one wants him then Heskey is forced to stay at a club that he has stated he does not want to be at.

He must be praised for showing such ambition and want but he needs to step very carefully to cover his tracks.

Craig Bellamy rescued a point for Manchester City during an intense match at Villa Park on Monday night. Two teams that are fighting to break into the top four went head to head and the match did not disappoint as Villa got ahead quickly before the Welshman levelled the score.

It was a good performance from Aston Villa who have been struggling to get some consistency in the early stages of the Premier League season. Richard Dunne put Villa ahead and refused to celebrate against the club that made his name.

However, it was not enough as Bellamy cracked in a spectacular goal in the later stages of the game to get his side a point. City carry their momentum forwards but would have liked to take all three points and some good away form.

Mark Hughes, City boss, said: “That was really special. The City fans were fantastic in terms of the reception they gave Richard Dunne. He was a fantastic player for City, in good times and bad, and our fans acknowledged that.”

Dunne himself added: “It’s amazing how these things happen. I don’t have a celebration. If I score, it’s very surprising. I enjoyed my time at City and respect everyone there so I just thought it was the right thing to do. I think we have got as good a chance as they have of getting into the top four.”

Villa’s , seemed a little frustrated by only taking a point away from the match, a match that he felt his side should have won. He said: “My opinion of Gareth Barry hasn’t changed in three years. He’s a very fine footballer.”

For City the next step is very clear. They need to carry this momentum on that they have started to build up. They are looking like a more complete football club with every match that passes and sooner rather than later, the consistency will come off and they will win something. It just won’t happen for a little time yet.

For Villa, they just need to keep working hard. Villa is a club that is based around all of the good things that football should be about. If they are to refind the ground they lost when they were a possible top four club then they need to give the manager time and space as well as a number of the players. It will be interesting to see how their seasons pan out.