The embarassing miss has inevitably led to fresh calls for Gerard Houllier to bring the 25-year-old's inconsistant Anfield career to an abrupt end with young striking sensation Florent-Sinama Pongolle seen by many as an ideal replacement.
According to Rush, though, the former Leicester City man was not given credit for what was, guilt-edged miss aside, an admirable display against the Premiership championship.
"Emile Heskey produced a good display of the target man's arts against Manchester United. But predictably all you read in the papers afterwards was that he missed a last-minute chance to snatch a draw.
"It seems to sum up Emile's luck. He did plenty of good things, but people only see the one bad thing. Emile will draw inspiration from the fact everyone here at Liverpool believes in him and will get behind him.
"The greatest strikers miss chances, but brush off the memory and keep going until they get another chance. It should also be pointed out that Harry Kewell and Florent Sinama Pongolle, when he came on, enjoyed bright afternoons - and that had much to do with Emile's display.
"The most important thing for me is that his recent form has been good and he will be told that at Anfield. Emile played well on Sunday and as far as I am concerned he can hold his head up."