Emile Heskey revealed last night that he will consider leaving Aston Villa during the January transfer window if he is not playing regular first-team football in order to bolster his World Cup hopes.

Heskey has been one of the first names on Fabio Capello’s team-sheet for the past year, but has started only one Barclays Premier League match for Villa this season and is concerned that a lack of club football could damage his prospects for South Africa.

Capello has so far been willing to make an exception for Heskey from his own rule that all of his players must be appearing regularly for their clubs to merit international recognition, but conceded on Friday that such indulgence would not last for ever.

Heskey made a similar threat after England’s 3-1 win in Belarus 12 months ago, warning that he needed to leave Wigan Athletic for a club with Champions League aspirations, which paved the way for his £3.5 million move to Villa last January.

Martin O’Neill appears to have concluded that Heskey’s goal threat is too limited to be of use in a side such as Villa — a view supported by his dreadful return of two goals in 21 appearances for the club — but will not take kindly to his outburst.

The 31-year-old has little hope of an immediate breakthrough at Villa Park because Gabriel Agbonlahor has been in magnificent form as a lone striker this season and John Carew is also ahead of him in the pecking order when O’Neill switches to 4-4-2.

Rafael Benítez considered bringing Heskey back to Liverpool last season, but with the Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City squads full of strikers there will be few other obvious takers in the top half of the Premier League.

“I’m happy to be playing for England as not playing at club level is difficult obviously,” Heskey said. “It’s something I will have to look at when I get back. You always worry about not playing, but I will just have to try to address it when the time is right. I’m never going to give up, it’s just another hurdle I have to get over.

“I may even have to think about changing clubs in January. I will have to sit down and think about my next move. I must keep my spirits up.”

Heskey and his team-mates did not experience any of the racial abuse it was feared could materialise in Dnipropetrovsk on Saturday, but England’s 1-0 defeat by Ukraine was marred by the flares thrown at Robert Green and David James during the first half.

Capello called on Fifa to take action and the FA has made an official complaint to the world governing body, but the Italian praised his players’ performance despite slipping to the first competitive defeat of his reign.

Green will miss England’s final World Cup qualifier against Belarus on Wednesday through suspension — Ben Foster was called up yesterday as a replacement — and Wayne Rooney has returned to Manchester United to have a calf injury treated and is likely to be replaced at Wembley by Jermain Defoe. Steven Gerrard remains with the squad after a scan on his groin revealed only bruising.

“I don’t think the game should have been abandoned for these people with the flares, but Fifa have to decide something about this,” Capello said. “The flares or the penalty are no excuse, but we played the second half very well. This is really important. For us it was not important for the table for qualification, but this is the spirit that I like, to play every game to win, to win, to win.”