Emile Heskey says he’ll have no complaints if Jermain Defoe starts England’s World Cup qualifier against Croatia ahead of him.

Defoe has hit 3 goals in his last 2 international appearances which has upped his England strike level to 11 from 36 matches. Contrastingly, Heskey has managed 7 from 55 games.

However, manager Fabio Capello has stuck with Heskey since his international renaissance last season so nothing looks to be guaranteed.

Speaking after England’s 2 – 1 win over Slovenia, a game in which Defoe came on as a replacement and scored, Heskey said:

You can’t really complain if you look at the statistics.

Jermain has done brilliantly. Every time he comes on the pitch he scores a goal. That’s the main thing.

We’re in competition but it’s good competition. It puts you on your toes knowing you’ve got to do well.

I like to play as the one main up front. Jermain likes to play as that as well.

We’ve got other strikers there as well. It’s good.

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