Heskey returned to Wigan's training ground on Thursday and is set to lead the line against Sunderland on Saturday after doing the job so effectively against Croatia on Saturday night.

The 30-year-old helped England to a 4-1 win in Zagreb but chants from the home crowd cast a shadow over a superb performance by Fabio Capello's men.

Bruce has backed the Football Association's decision to lodge a report with FIFA and urged the world's governing body to clamp down on racist behaviour.

The Wigan boss believes Heskey has already shrugged off the incident, however, having previously endured racist abuse in Slovakia in 2002.

"If you watched the game, you could hear monkey chants and all the rest of it, which I thought we'd seen the back of," said Bruce.

"But typical of Emile, he just got on with the game in hand and didn't let it spoil his performance.

"I think it was a back-handed compliment really as they did it because he was playing so well.

"There's no chance it'll affect him. He's bigger and better than that, and the people that are doing that are morons anyway. He'll just shrug his shoulders and let other people deal with it.

"The FA are right to issue their concerns about it because we thought we'd seen the back of that years ago.

"If it's anything in this country then FIFA have certainly clamped down it over the years so we'll let them go and do their job.

"We hope they'll take the right action, we're all 100 per cent behind them, and if they can stamp down on it then all well and good."

Despite the chanting, Bruce felt it was a memorable evening for Heskey and Wigan, with their star striker having played such a key role in a crucial victory.

Heskey also had a big impact in the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign when he was recalled for the home wins against Israel and Russia, and Bruce reckons the former Liverpool man has now cemented himself as one of England's top strikers.

"I'm absolutely delighted for him and I'm delighted for the club that a player of humble Wigan Athletic led the line for the country so magnificently," he said.

"I've been saying it for years now that I think he's England's best striker of his type, a traditional centre-forward.

"By that I mean somebody who leads the line, is good in the air, holds the ball up, he's big, strong and powerful and he brings people into the game.

"He's the focal point of the team if you play to his strengths, which England did last night when we saw the best of Emile Heskey.

"You could see Wayne Rooney enjoyed playing with him last night, as does Michael Owen and Jermain Defoe, and when he's playing like that there's nobody better."

Amr Zaki will partner Heskey against Sunderland if he returns fit from Egypt's World Cup qualifying win over Congo DR.

The 25-year-old striker has also caught the eye this season by hitting four goals in four games since arriving on a year-long loan from Zamalek.

"We're waiting for Amr to come back from Egypt but he's had a good start and it's important that he keeps progressing," said Bruce.

"But he's enjoying the challenge of being in England, which is great to see, so in that respect we're very pleased."