Liverpool linked with Heskey

England striker Emile Heskey has been linked with a January move back to Liverpool.

The 31 year-old forward currently plays for Aston Villa, under Martin O'Neill, but has struggled to make much of an impact at Villa Park, often used as a substitute.

Heskey has even admitted he may have to leave Villa in January to improve his chances of making Fabio Capello's 23-man World Cup squad.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez needs to boost his forward line, with Fernando Torres prone to injury, Ryan Babel disenchanted and Andriy Voronin ineffectual.

The Mirror reports that Benitez is also looking at Ruud van Nistelrooy and Luca Toni, but views Heskey as the ideal target man for Torres to play off.

Heskey scored 60 goals in four years at Liverpool before he was sold to Birmingham in 2004 - a month before Benitez took charge at Anfield.

Meanwhile, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has called on the team to pull together in the face of increasing criticism.

Benitez's men are floundering in eighth place and Gerrard said: "I don't think it's right to pick out individual players.

"We're a team, we're a group and we are responsible for where we're lying in the league at the moment. All of us have got to stick together and try and pull through and turn it around."

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