Martin O'Neill: Aston Villa Wary Of Tottenham Hotspur Striker Jermain Defoe

Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has warned his defence that they must be at their sharpest to cope with the threat posed by Tottenham Hotspur striker Jermain Defoe.

The England international scored five times in his side's amazing 9-1 defeat of Wigan Athletic last weekend, and O'Neill wants no such repeats at Villa Park on Saturday.

"Defoe will have to be watched very carefully in the game as he can score goals," the Ulsterman told reporters at his Friday press conference.

"I wouldn't disagree with Harry Redknapp that he may well be as good a finisher as anybody in the Premiership.

"Defoe is a very fine player. But it is not just him we will have to be aware of."

And O'Neill is anticipating a mouth-watering clash when his team clash with Redknapp's tomorrow.
"Tottenham were absolutely brilliant at the weekend and in unstoppable form. I felt they were excellent," he added.

"I happened to be at the game and they caused Wigan all sorts of problems scoring that number of goals.

"But saying that, I don't think for one minute that anyone would have expected at half-time that Wigan would have conceded eight goals in the second half.

"It is an appetising game with the two teams in fourth and fifth place."

Emile Heskey came off the bench to net a crucial equaliser against Burnley last weekend and O'Neill is pleased to see the England striker finding the net again.
"I am obviously very pleased that Heskey got off the mark with his goal at Burnley," he said.

"I think just for his confidence as much as anything else.

"I've said before that he has made his name as the provider of chances but it is still important for centre-forwards to score goals.

"His confidence has been given a big lift and he has been really excellent in training this week. My own belief is that he is capable of scoring more goals than he thinks himself and we do have good service from the wings."

That service from wide areas could get even better for Villa soon, with Stewart Downing expected to make his debut at some stage of Saturday's game.

O'Neill doesn't see the large number of natural wide players in his squad as a problem.
"It is not such a big problem as it seems to be being reported," he asserted.

"All good players find a space for themselves. I think anyone who has been watching us for the last couple of seasons knows that Ashley Young and James Milner are capable of playing in a number of positions for us.

"Ashley has done it comfortably. He has played both sides and he and James change wings in the course of games.

"The thing that is attractive about Stewart Downing is the fact that he can play in a number of positions, which he has done for Middlesbrough.

"He has played wide left, wide right and played off the centre forward. He is an exciting player. When he is fully fit it should be great."