Just a week after waving Wigan a fond farewell, Emile Heskey comes up against the man Martin O’Neill credits with rescuing his England career.

How typical of the fixture list to throw up Steve Bruce’s Latics side as the opposition for new recruit Heskey’s home debut at Villa Park tomorrow – a game which offers Villa the chance to go second with victory.

Bruce will almost certainly be looking on with envy as a player he would have loved to have kept is introduced to the home support, who are already warming to the forward following his match-winner in Tuesday’s debut at Portsmouth.

It was Bruce who was responsible for Heskey’s first stint in the Second City, bringing him to Birmingham in 2004.

Bruce was powerless to prevent Heskey being sold to the Latics for £5.5million in 2006 when his Blues side were relegated from the top flight but, within a year, he was following the frontman up the M6 to become boss at the JJB Stadium.

There, Bruce helped Heskey rediscover some of his best form and it coincided with the end of his three-year exile from the England setup.

Now a regular starter under Fabio Capello, the 31-year-old’s renaissance was capped in October, when he won his 50th cap in the World Cup qualifier for Belarus.

O’Neill, who managed Heskey during his formative years at Leicester, believes Bruce deserves a great deal of credit for the striker’s revival. Having landed his long-term target for £3.5m, he admits the Wigan boss’ loss is his gain.

He said: “I think Steve has done wonderfully for him (Heskey) and with him. He has worked with him now these last three or four years and he would have to take a lot of credit for getting him back into the England squad.

“Fair play to the player himself too, he’s done great. I have the utmost regard for Steve. He has done exceptionally well and turned Wigan around.

“He has sold players (Wilson Palacios recently left for Tottenham) and yet has managed to get the football club winning games near the top of the league.

“Steve was really good in the transfer market. They’ve got some money out if it, because it looked as if they might lose him for nothing in the summertime and we’ve got a really decent player on our hands.

“I think we’re going to be great for him. He’s been great for Wigan and I’m hoping he’ll do just the same for us.”

Defender Curtis Davies believes it is a great deal for both parties – Heskey’s Champions League experience boosting Villa’s top-four charge and the claret and blues offering the striker another shot at the big time.

Davies said: “I’m sure he enjoyed his time at Wigan but he probably felt he had done all he could for the club. He probably felt he had more to give career-wise.

“The time is right now for him to step back up again and push for European football. We’re hoping he can push us into the top four come the end of the season.”

The Villa defender insists Heskey deserves a good reception from the Wigan supporters at Villa Park  – because he left for a transfer fee rather than on a free in the summer.

Davies said: “I am sure their fans won’t blame him. The fact they got money for him now rather than leave on a free at the end of the season has probably cushioned the blow a bit.”

Villa, 4-0 winners in the reverse fixtures at the JJB Stadium, are certain to be without Nigel Reo-Coker (hamstring) and Martin Laursen (knee).

The game also comes too soon for John Carew and Freddie Bouma despite the pair hitting the comeback trail in midweek.