Former Liverpool striker makes pre-season predictions for Wigan Athletic and Bolton Wanderers - 'Unless Wigan get...'

The 47-year-old, who played for Latics in the Premier League between 2006-09, points to the vastly different financial landscape now as reason for his cautious approach.

"Unless Wigan get an injection of cash to get some stability and bring in bodies in the transfer market, I think the thing for them is to consolidate in the league for another year, and try to build back slowly," said Heskey, who scored 16 goals in 88 appearances under Paul Jewell, Chris Hutchings and Steve Bruce.

"I loved my time with Wigan, to be honest. The fans were great and we had a wonderful team spirit in the squad. Not only that, we had some good players in Antonio Valencia, Wilson Palacios, and others.

"Players were coming through and we had a decent side. But we were victims of our own success because when you’re that kind of club, when you play well, the big clubs come calling.

"Players leave and you have to replace them well, and they might still be struggling with that."

Heskey also played for Bolton Wanderers at the tail end of his career, and he sees a tough season ahead under Steven Schumacher, Ryan Lowe's former right-hand man at Plymouth Argyle.

"I think they're still struggling," he added in a chat with 'BestBettingSites.co.uk'. "The last manager (Ian Evatt) did really well to get them to a certain point and then it became almost impossible to kick on further.

"I think it’d be great if they could get into the play-offs, and a bit of luck might see them promoted.

"Bolton’s big strength is that they can call upon their fans. I always loved the Bolton fans. They were passionate and always got behind us.

"When I was at Bolton I was 36, so I couldn’t give the same amount as I used to. I used to be running the channels, but that stopped when I was there.

"I focused on doing my work in the area and concentrating on that."