Sir Les slams the 'mind-boggling' treatment of Tottenham striker Defoe

The Wigan striker, 29, has been an international outcast since Euro 2004 but received a shock call-up for England's qualifiers against Israel and Russia.

Heskey is now expected to start in attack alongside Michael Owen against the Israelis at Wembley on Saturday and former England targetman Ferdinand believes it is a shrewd move.

The former Tottenham and QPR forward, who won 17 caps, said: "Some people will call it desperate, but I don't see it that way.

"If you look at the way Heskey has started the season and the way he performed with Michael Owen when the pair played together at Liverpool, then it makes sense.

"Some people believe Michael was at his best during that period at Liverpool when they had a really fruitful partnership.

"Michael needs to someone to work with up front. He's just come back from injury and I don't see him as a lone striker.

"He's at his best with a big player alongside him, as he showed last week with Mark Viduka for Newcastle. Heskey's the perfect foil for him."

But while Ferdinand is content with McClaren's first-choice pairing, he is concerned by the England manager's handling of his support strikers, in particular Defoe.

The Tottenham forward was an unused substitute for England's recent friendly defeat by Germany and deprived of an opportunity to stake his claim for a place against Israel.

McClaren chose instead to start Alan Smith, who plays in midfield for his club, alongside Owen and then use Peter Crouch - suspended for the Israel clash - and another midfielder Kieron Dyer from the bench.

Ferdinand believes McClaren should either play Defoe or leave him out of the squad altogether.

He said: "I find the treatment of Jermain mind-boggling. As an England manager, you should be able to come out and say someone is a good player, but I don't think he's international class. Rather than keep bringing people into the squad and not using them, Steve McClaren should be more open. Take the Germany game, we were all keeping our fingers crossed for Michael to be fit for Israel and Russia, but in case he is not you would think Jermain would be in the frame.

"But then look at what happened. Crouch, who is suspended for Israel, goes on ahead of him and Alan Smith, who's been playing as a midfielder, starts ahead of him.

"If I was Jermain, I would think the manager is sending out a message to me. He had the opportunity to give a fit and available centre-forward a run-out and he didn't do it.

"If McClaren feels he's not good enough then he should come out and say 'I don't think he's international class'."

With Israel likely to adopt an ultra-defensive approach, Ferdinand believes McClaren should start with an attack-minded four-man midfield. He favours the Chelsea duo of Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips out wide, with Michael Carrick ahead of Owen Hargreaves in the centre if Steven Gerrard is fit.

"Wright-Phillips is playing with tremendous confidence because he's now starting regularly for Chelsea," said Ferdinand.

"We are starting to glimpses of the player he was at Manchester City. Against Israel, the question to ask is: do we really need a defensive midfield player? We are likely to be on the attack for most of the game, especially if Israel throw everybody behind the ball.

"It is going to be tight and you're going to need someone who can pierce a defence, so I would go for Michael Carrick. As good a player as Owen Hargreaves is, he lacks Carrick's vision."