Bolton Wanderers prepared to wait before deciding on Emile Heskey

Wanderers expect to make a decision on whether to offer a short-term contract to Emile Heskey by Christmas.

The former England, Liverpool and Aston Villa striker will continue to train with the club this week in an effort to prove his fitness.

But Neil Lennon, who admits tried to sign his former Leicester City team-mate on two separate occasions whilst in charge at Celtic, says there is no pressure on either party to come to a quick decision.

Wanderers bided their time before offering a contract to Eidur Gudjohnsen until the end of the season and a similar deal could be on the cards for the 36-year-old Heskey.

“I’m treating it exactly the same way as I did for Eidur,” Lennon told The Bolton News.

“He will have 10 days to two weeks' training with us and we will assess him from there.

“There is no pressure on us or Emile. He is away for a few days because he is a club ambassador with Leicester.

“That will give him time to have a break and then come back again. Hopefully, we will have made a decision by then.”

Lennon admits the festive fixture list may make it difficult to organise a behind-closed-doors friendly in the same way he did for Gudjohnsen.

But he has not ruled out the experienced front man featuring for the development squad, who are scheduled to face Wigan Athletic in the Under-21 Premier League Cup on Friday at Leyland and then Arsenal at Boreham Wood next Monday.

Heskey has not played competitively since leaving Newcastle Jets in the summer but told The Bolton News last week he was confident he could play a part.

Lennon insists there is nothing to lose by offering him the opportunity to regain his match fitness.

“I've known him a long time and tried to sign him a couple of times, which seems to be the norm for me when I talk about players,” he said.

“He's 36 and had a successful career at the highest level. If he has something to offer, it's something we'll look at. A player of that calibre who's free, why don't we have a look at him?

“There's no risk at all. If he turns out to be the player we think he can be then it's a no-brainer. If he's not for us, we won't sign him.”

Source

ffs he only signs his mates!!1!

i must admit i'm not keen on the idea, but we have to trust Lennon, if he thinks he can do a job then fair enough.

I'm not sure either. Neither he nor Eidur can play a full game and they certainly can't both be used as impact subs. There's no way (surely) that we'll see both of them on the pitch together. If it means foregoing the opportunity to bring in another younger player, then I'd say thanks Emile- but try somewhere else.

I'd much rather give Conor Wilkinson game time than Heskey.

I'd like to see Heskey used as an impact sub if at all. Like keegan I'd like to see Wilkinson get some starts, perhaps alongside Cravies in a 4-4-2 or failing that with Cravies wounded alongside Mason. Heskey is a good hold up and link up man but he needs to have an out and out finisher either alongside or just ahead of him to make use of those qualities properly and at his age I can't see him lasting out ninety minutes regularly anyway.