Angry Villa have fired off a curt reminder to FA officials that the club does not expect World Cup-bound James Milner to be dragged into talking about his future.

The claret and blues were miffed that following last week’s opening £20million bid from Manchester City for their all-purpose midfielder, Milner was coaxed into talking about his future during an England media appearance.

The FA and the players’ Premier League employers have an established code of practice during England duties that club issues will remain out of bounds at press conferences.

Head coach Fabio Capello has also warned his players that there will be repurcussions if they allow the annual round of summer transfer speculation to distract them during the World Cup campaign.

Against that backdrop, Villa were angered that Milner was lured into talking about his future last week and even though their in-demand star only touched on the issue lightly, contacted the FA to register their disquiet.

The FA, who have their own media staff monitoring every confidence and ready to shut down any discussions straying off the England agenda, sent a full transcript of the Milner press conference to Villa to show that the transfer speculation had been more spin than substance.

But as the World Cup bandwagon gathers momentum the club have warned the FA it does not expect any future breaches.

As Capello’s squad of 30 prepare to make their final pitch for a place in the 23 in tonight’s Mexico friendly, Milner is a certainty for the finals where his performances may well shape the next phase of his career.

But the club faces an impossible task trying to keep a lid on the sensitive issue of their star player’s future.

There were weekend reports claiming that Liverpool will be ready to go head-to-head with City for Milner’s services and that Villa boss Martin O’Neill already has a potential replacement at the top of his list – West Ham’s Scott Parker.

A second World Cup candidate from Villa is also at the hub of transfer speculation.

Sources around Stoke are adamant that Emile Heskey will be targeted by manager Tony Pulis if and when current out-of-favour forwards James Beattie and Dave Kitson are moved on.

That would free up Pulis’s budget to finance a deal in the region of £2million.