Heskey himself is doubtful for the quarter-final first leg tie at Parkhead with a hamstring strain picked up in the Worthington Cup Final, but is a certainty for the second leg at Anfield.

Either way, nobody at Liverpool knows O'Neill better than the England striker whose career was kickstarted by the manager at Filbert Street.

"He has a great passion and enthusiasm for the game. When we scored a goal, he jumped up higher on the touchline than we did on the pitch," recalls Heskey.

"He was a great manager for me. He let me play with such freedom and I learned a lot under his charge, and of course won two trophies."

Since leaving Leicester, Heskey has been in the goldfish bowl of Liverpool and England. He has sometimes been played as a striker, sometimes wide on the left-hand side of midfield.

"Different teams play in different ways. Even in certain games Liverpool will change styles," says Heskey.

 

"My goals record when I was a kid growing up in Leicester was phenomenal. It does worry me when I read the papers saying I am a striker that can't score. I even start to question it myself, then I realise I have played a lot of the games on the left."

There is no criticism of Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier though. "You have to adapt to the team. He has taken a lot of stick at times this season but he is the one who signed us as players so we should go out and put things right for him."

Houllier may be a different managerial animal to Martin O'Neill but to Heskey they have both been as vital to his progression. And he won't want to see the famous O'Neill touchline jig on Thursday night at Parkhead.

by Joe Bernstein

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