Villa manager Martin O’Neill fired a warning shot across the bows of cult hero John Carew to at least give Emile Heskey’s first team ambitions a glimmer of hope.

Carew is one of the main obstacles to the England international getting the run of games at club level which can carry him all the way to next summer’s World Cup finals in South Africa.

The Norwegian is ahead of Heskey in the pecking order and a hugely popular figure among supporters, who are always pressurising O’Neill to get him on the pitch.

But Carew does have a fragile fitness record and as Villa began getting ready for Chelsea’s visit tomorrow, O’Neill sent the giant Norwegian a reminder that his team cannot afford to carry any individuals.

The manager said: “John is an important player for us. He gets the confidence up from being a cult hero here and he realises that we can’t afford to carry players in the team.

“None of the teams with any designs on trying to be successful can afford to carry players. You just can’t do it.”

As things stand, Heskey is due to start the day on the bench again as Chelsea gather up their collection of globe-trotting internationals and send them to Villa Park. Although O’Neill could always spring a surprise.

Chelsea did the double over Villa last season without conceding a goal but in truth Villa have fared as well against Chelsea as they have any of the top four, losing just once and winning three of the their last 10 league trips to Villa Park.

And it is Villa Park which O’Neill looks to for a serious helping hand tomorrow.

He said: “Our home form was a bit stodgy last season and we didn’t win as many games as we’d have liked.

“If some of the players have said we can turn it into a fortress, then I’d say we’d need to put together a longer run of results than we have to do that.

“But we have improved at home this season and I’m sure if we do want to make it a fortress, make it more difficult for visiting teams, then our fans can play their part.”