Bruce deserves plaudits for Heskey’s revival, insists O’Neill
Heskey will make his Villa home debut today against the Latics only a week after completing a £3.5m switch from the JJB Stadium. He made an instant impact for Villa by scoring the midweek winner at Portsmouth to propel them into third spot in the league.
O’Neill is quick to acknowledge the influence of Bruce in reviving Heskey’s career, initially at Birmingham and then Wigan, to the point where he is back as the spearhead of England’s attack under Fabio Capello.
“Emile has had a renaissance in the past couple of years and great credit to him, but also to Steve Bruce who has done fantastically with him,” O’Neill said.
“Steve has done wonderfully for him — and with him. He has worked with him for the past three or four years at Birmingham and at Wigan. He would have to take a lot of credit for Emile getting back into the England squad.
“I think Wigan were great for him, and vice versa. I will be hoping he does just the same things for us that he has been doing for Wigan — and at Portsmouth was the ideal start. Emile’s goal was a great finish and it was a super display from him. He had never played with Gabby (Agbonlahor) before but I thought there was an instant rapport.”
O’Neill is also confident the Villa fans will quickly accept Heskey despite his previous spell at local rivals Birmingham. He said: “I think Emile will be fine. He hasn’t thrown his fingers up at them at any time.”
O’Neill believes Wigan’s revival after being in the bottom three a couple of months ago highlights the topsy-turvy nature of the league this season.
He said: “You just have to look at the table and you see, every week, teams moving places with gay abandon. You can win, pick up three points and you have moved up six places in the table. It is extraordinary this season.
“Some teams can be worrying about relegation and then two wins later all the talk is about European football. It really is that tight. It’s amazing. After we beat Wigan at the JJB Stadium, Steve, on the face of it, looked a bit concerned. He was a bit down after the game.
“But they went and won six out of nine games in a fantastic run. That can happen. It can happen to any team. It is so, so tight. I have never known it like this. It’s been like this since the start of the season and I can’t see it changing.”
O’Neill continues to laugh off suggestions that Villa are becoming serious title contenders after winning six successive away games. He said: “The players have got confidence in their game. They have been doing brilliantly. We have dug out a couple of results recently when perhaps not at our best.
“There are spells when some people in our team have come forward with big moments in matches. More of that will be needed for the next couple of months. I am delighted we are in the position we are in.
“It is up to us to try and keep momentum going. That will be the hardest thing.”
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