Heskey, speaking to the clubs official website, said: "It's been a poor season for me so far. It's been really hard. I haven't really got going and the team have struggled over recent weeks as well.
"It's hard to say whether the World Cup is to blame for me not being at my best. A lot of players went to the World Cup and not all of them have struggled. I wouldn't like to just use that as an excuse.
"I've never worked with a specific striker coach before but it sounds like a good idea to me. Phil Thompson does a lot of work with the defenders so it makes sense for the strikers to have their own coach as well. The good thing about Rushie is that he has done it all during his career and so he knows what he is talking about."