Villa manager Martin O’Neill has backed Emile Heskey to “roar back” this season after the striker staked a strong claim for a Premier League recall at Everton.

The England international, recently out of favour, impressed up front alongside Gabby Agbonlahor during Tuesday night’s Carling Cup win over Sunderland in his first start for two months.

Now O’Neill must now decide whether to stick with the January signing or recall John Carew, who replaced Heskey late on at the Stadium of Light, for Saturday’s trip to Goodison Park.

The manager said: “I have known Emile for a fairly lengthy time and I fully expect him to roar back. I expect players to come in and get on with it.

“Every single minute on the field is precious so, when you are out there, go out and do it.”

Heskey was widely reported as saying that without first team football at Villa he would have to consider a January move to preserve his World Cup ambitions, but has since claimed he was misquoted.

The Villa boss can understand Heskey’s desperation to go to South Africa, but insists there is plenty of time for him to re-establish himself as a claret and blue regular.

O’Neill said: “The ultimate is playing for your country in a World Cup and you would want to try to protect that as much as possible.

“Seemingly, Fabio Capello likes to have the players playing in the first team, which you can understand psychologically and in terms of fitness.

“But things can change. It’s a long time until January, let alone June. Lots of things can happen in that time.”