EMILE HESKEY will undergo surgery today after being struck by the curse of the broken metatarsal which has plagued England ever since David Beckham’s build-up to the 2002 World Cup was wrecked by a foot injury. Heskey, the Wigan Athletic striker, suffered a supected broken fifth metatarsal in his right foot and limped off after just eight minutes of yesterday’s 1-1 draw with Fulham at the JJB stadium. He is expected to be out for up to eight weeks. In the past five years England stars Michael Owen, Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney have all fallen victim to metatarsal injuries and now Heskey has joined the list of victims.

Heskey was examined at the stadium and immediately sent to hospital for scans. The injury is a cruel blow to Heskey and to England after a week in which he became the renaissance man of English football by marking his return to the international scene with two stirring performances against Israel and Russia at Wembley.

Heskey is now certain to miss next month’s Euro 2008 qualifying double header against Estonia and Russia, and will struggle to be fit for the November clash with Croatia that could decide England’s fate.

“He’s gone to hospital and he’s having an X-ray and we just have to wait until the results come back,” said Chris Hutchings, the Wigan manager. “He just couldn’t carry on because it was just too painful. It’s very disappointing for him. Everybody knows Emile Heskey. If he can stay on, he will stay on, but we didn’t want to do any more damage and think long-term.”

Heskey had an initial scan last night at Euxton Hospital, which was inconclusive. He was then taken to nearby Wrightington Hospital for a CT scan which appeared to confirm the club’s worst fears. Wigan spokesman Matt McCann said the injury seemed to have been caused when Heskey landed with all his weight on the fifth metatarsal, the bone that leads to the little toe. At least Steve McClaren, England’s coach, who was at the Goodison Park to watch Manchester United beat Everton 1-0 with a late goal from Nemanja Vidic, has the consolation that Wayne Rooney is due to return to action this week after recovering from a similar foot injury.

Rooney, who also suffered a metatarsal injury in 2004, injury did not play at Goodison, but Sir Alex Ferguson, United’s manager confirmed that he is available to play in Wednesday’s Champions League match against Sporting in Lisbon.

Elsewhere, Arsenal went top of the Premier League with a 3-1 win over Tottenham in the north London derby at White Hart Lane.

Liverpool surrendered top spot when they were held 0-0 at Portsmouth. They were given a let-off in the first half when Kanu was pulled back in the area by Alvaro Arbeloa but them had his penalty saved by goalkeeper Pepe Reina.