Heskey eyes Adelaide clash

Heskey flew into Australia on Friday morning and joined his team-mates for an informal training session on the Hunter Stadium pitch later that afternoon after charming the media at a packed press conference.

"My fitness is not too bad. I have been doing a bit with (Wigan's) development group, their Under 21s - they are young lads and they keep you fit," Heskey said.

"But I haven't played any games and everyone knows match fitness is different to training every day.

"But I spoke to everyone here and we will be working towards that first game.

"That is what we will be building for to see if I can play. I am here to play as soon as possible."

Heskey decided to head to Australia this month having left Aston Villa, following a career that had also taken in Leicester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Wigan.

Coach Gary van Egmond said: "If you look at his physique and then you talk to him, he’s a very humble guy.

“There’s no frills. He’s just looking forward to getting out and training with the boys and doing as well as he can for the Newcastle Jets this year.

“In regards to how he looks, he doesn’t look like he’s carrying any excess weight or anything like that.

“Our challenge will be to make sure we don’t push him too hard, too early and make sure we get the best out of him.”

He scored seven goals in 62 appearances for England.