Injury-hit Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill is forced to grin and shoulder the burden of having to make at least one change for tomorrow's home game with Tottenham Hotspur.

Luke Moore was already a guaranteed non-starter from the last Villa team that lined up against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge 13 days ago, following the shoulder injury he suffered that afternoon. But it now appears likely that goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen will also be missing against Spurs, also with a shoulder problem, suffered on international duty for Denmark against Steven Davis's Northern Ireland last Saturday.

Peter Whittingham, who picked up a thigh injury on duty for the England Under-21s, is a major doubt too, while Olof Mellberg missed Sweden's midweek Euro 2008 victory against Iceland. Davis also suffered a knock playing for the Irish in midweek.

But O'Neill's biggest worry is Sorensen.

"We've got another couple of days, but at the moment I would think he'd be doubtful for Saturday," said O'Neill. "It's severe bruising and very painful at the moment. And obviously it's a concern for us."

It would mean only a third Premiership start in Villa colours for stand-in keeper Stuart Taylor. And, if he does play, it would evoke memories of his nightmare debut this time last season as a last-minute replacement Sorensen against Manchester City at Eastlands, only to ship a goal every bit as embarrassing as anything England could contrive in Croatia.

Taylor's Halloween horror moment saw him gallop yards outside his area to clear a loose ball, only to find himself not quite on the same wavelength as Jlloyd Samuel, who nodded over his head, allowing Villa old boy Darius Vassell an easy tap-in.

It was a goal, like Paul Robinson's luckless moment in midweek, further highlighted in having being seen by a big live TV audience. But it was effectively wiped from the Villa memory bank when Taylor made his only other start two months later in a 2-1 victory at West Bromwich Albion over Christmas.

If Taylor has to make his home debut for the club 15 months after signing from Arsenal, O'Neill has made it clear that it will not be a problem. "If Stuart Taylor has to come in, that's what he's here for," said the Villa boss.

Although being hampered by the injuries picked up on international duty, O'Neill is just as preoccupied with the lack of time to prepare for a Saturday game when his players, some of whom have been away from the club for almost a fortnight, are still making their way back from distant corners of Europe.

That has caused him a problem in terms of how to alter his formation to take account of the absence of Moore. And O'Neill also worries about whether the same level of performance can be guaranteed at club level the Saturday after the sort of two-match international break that now litters the modern game.

"Regardless of what the players have done at international level, regardless of what their countries have thought about them, what matters for us is to prepare for this game," said O'Neill. "And it's not something that will go down greatly at Villa Park, to find three of our players struggling after doing really well for their countries.

"The Spurs game is the important thing for us and, in terms of preparation, it's not great.

"The problem isn't so much the injuries as the fact that the day you see the whole squad together is just 24 hours before you kick off. We'll have had just the one session together."