Martin O’Neill believes Emile Heskey’s decision to join Villa has given him the ‘best chance’ of boarding the plane to the 2010 World Cup.

Heskey completed his £3.5million move from Wigan last night, signing a three-and-a-half year deal. The 31-year-old, now an England regular under Fabio Capello, was widely expected to rejoin Liverpool in the summer when his contract ran out at the JJB Stadium.

But boss O’Neill believes the regular football on offer at Villa Park is good news for his international career.

He said: “If Liverpool had been one of the teams in for him, he might look and see that they’ve got a £20million player (Fernando Torres) who doesn’t get a game every week.

“So if he plays the requisite number of games here over the next year or so, that will give him the best chance of keeping things going with England as the World Cup finals approach.”

O’Neill also refused to rule out the possibility of renewing the Heskey-Michael Owen partnership, when the Newcastle striker’s contract runs out at the end of the season.

The Villa boss said: “I’m not saying that I will move for Owen in the summer – I’ve not looked at anything at that remote a distance.

“But that’s not to say Michael Owen is not a terrific player. We wait to see. Anything is possible. Kaka is a possibility!”