Whilst the England Head Coach felt others deserved their chance in the squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualification fixtures against Austria and Poland, he stressed that the door for Heskey will remain open:

"The door is not closed for Emile Heskey," he explained, "but I've seen a lot of Alan Smith and Jermain Defoe recently and they deserve their chance this time.

"However, I want to make clear that Emile has never let England down and he is still very much a part of my thinking.

"He is with a good club, with a good manager, and we will continue to monitor his form very closely."

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