Harry aware of Heskey threat

Pompey boss is a fan of England striker

By Chris Burton   Last updated: 27th March 2008

Redknapp Harry

Redknapp: Heskey headache

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Harry Redknapp fears that Wigan striker Emile Heskey will wreak havoc on his patched up side this weekend.

Portsmouth welcome the struggling Latics to Fratton Park on Saturday and could potentially be without the services of Lassana Diarra, Hermann Hreidarsson, Niko Kranjcar and the suspended Sulley Muntari and Papa Bouba Diop.

With their opponents currently battling bravely against the drop, Redknapp is expecting to be in for a tough afternoon against Heskey and co.

Handful

"I'm still a massive fan of his," said the former West Ham and Southampton boss.

"You have got to remember that before his latest big injury (a broken foot) he was England's centre-forward.

"He may not score that many goals but he's a real handful up front and can do you damage.

"There are only a few big, old-fashioned England centre-forwards left but for me Heskey's the one. I would have him in my squad any day. I've looked at signing him in the past.

"Look how well he was playing for England until he got injured. He came back into the England team after a long absence and was superb.

"On his day he's a test for anybody to play against."

Concerns

The clash with Steve Bruce's side will be Portsmouth's last league game before their FA Cup semi-final date with West Brom.

Having slipped to a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Tottenham last time out Redknapp is determined not to head to Wembley on the back of consecutive defeats, but concedes that: "We had to change the side big-time at Spurs because of injuries and suspensions and we'll have a few other changes this time, for sure."

Redknapp is also concerned about the pressure currently being placed on the shoulders of Croatian playmaker Kranjcar.

The attacking midfielder has missed just one game for Pompey since August, and his boss admits that it may be time to take him out of the firing line.

"He's had a lot of matches - Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday - and it might be time to give him a little rest," Redknapp said.

"He wasn't asked to come back on Thursday to train after the internationals and neither were our England pair David James and Glen Johnson, but they both did a full session."