It felt like one of the most unlikely comparisons to make, and will certainly raise a few eyebrows, but there was no hint of a smile on Gérard Houllier's face today when the Aston Villa manager likened the much-maligned Emile Heskey to Didier Drogba, one of the best centre-forwards in the world. Football fans everywhere could be forgiven for wondering whether Houllier was joking, but the Frenchman was deadly serious.

With Heskey and Drogba born two months apart and both standing 6ft 2in tall there are, in fairness, a couple of parallels that could easily be overlooked ahead of Chelsea's visit to Villa Park tomorrow. The case, however, starts to appear a little thin when their respective strike-rates come under the microscope, with the six goals Drogba has scored in eight Premier League games this season as many as Heskey has managed in the 49 appearances he has made for Villa in the top flight.

Houllier, though, sees similarities between the two 32-year-old strikers. "I watched the [Chelsea] game against Arsenal. Drogba is a hard-working centre-forward," he said. "But we have a centre-forward who can do the same. Emile is strong, quick, powerful. It's mainly a matter of faith in himself. In terms of skill, he does things in training that you would be amazed and surprised [to see]. I think Emile forgets sometimes how good he can be."

Houllier said it was fair to talk about Heskey in the same breath as Drogba, who is missing tomorrow because of a virus: "Drogba is a fantastic centre-forward, probably the best in the world. He's got everything. He can score by himself, be on the end of crosses, head the ball, take free-kicks, and he works very hard for the team. But Emile has got some attributes that look like Didier, but he doesn't seem to use them. When he uses them, he's the centre-forward you saw in the last few games."

That was evident at White Hart Lane two weeks ago, when Heskey used his powerful frame to barge Tottenham's Sébastien Bassong off the ball before setting up Villa's goal in the 2-1 defeat. It is something that Houllier, who worked with Heskey for four years at Liverpool, would like to see more often. "Emile won't [smash people out of the way like Drogba]," Houllier said. "He's strong physically but he doesn't use his strength. Sometimes he can do better with that."

The chance Heskey set up for Marc Albrighton against Tottenham was his second assist in a three-game spell that has coincided with Houllier's appointment and also included two goals. "Even in training he looks as though he is blossoming," Houllier said. "He knows what I expect from him. And he knows I trust him, and that probably helps his game, because he needs to feel that [trust].

"With strikers here, and everywhere else, we are sometimes not very patient. We expect too much from them. If a midfielder has an average game, we seem to forget it. But if a striker has an average game, and misses a couple of chances, then you can sometimes destroy his confidence." Asked whether Heskey had suffered in that respect in the past, Houllier replied: "Probably. Sometimes we put too much pressure on strikers. But Emile knows I trust him."