David Moyes had been hoping Wednesday's Premier League match with Tottenham would be a cup final dress rehearsal for his patched-up side.Everton's last outing saw them ousted from the Carling Cup at the semi-final stage by Chelsea while Spurs booked their place at Wembley with a stunning defeat of Arsenal.

Although they have had a longer rest than their midweek opponents due to a lack of FA Cup involvement at the weekend, the fourth-placed club are struggling to field anything like a regular XI.

Tim Cahill and Tony Hibbert are both suspended, Joseph Yobo, Ayegbeni Yakubu and Stephen Pienaar are at the African Nations Cup and Thomas Gravesen (knee) is ruled out.

And Moyes is aware that Tottenham are now beginning to live up to their pre-season billing as top-four challengers rather than the side they defeated emphatically at White Hart Lane in August.

"We played very well that night and it gave us a lot of confidence," Moyes said. "Tottenham came to Goodison and were exceptional last season so we know we will be in for a hard time.

"I hoped it would be a warm-up for the cup final but unfortunately that wasn't to be."

With options limited, Leon Osman, a scorer in that 3-1 win earlier in the season, will be given the last minute to overcome calf and groin niggles.

"We will assess on the day and see if we think he can play," said Moyes. "We need him because we are short of numbers just now.

"He's had a very good season; the last couple of games he has been a bit quieter because he's come back from a broken toe.

"Due to our lack of numbers and Stephen Pienaar being away just now it's forced us to put him in earlier than we would have liked to."

Another midfielder Manuel Fernandes will almost certainly be involved again even though Moyes concedes he is not 'fully up to speed yet' after limited opportunity with Valencia.

And Leighton Baines is included in the squad after three months out with an ankle injury.

Moyes feels that Spurs are one of eight clubs with the financial clout to challenge at the top end of the Premier League - and they already had a stunning pool of talent when Juande Ramos succeeded Martin Jol.

"I think he took over a very good squad of players," Moyes added. "I don't think anyone in football would have thought for a minute that Tottenham weren't going to do a lot better than they were doing at that moment in time.

"There have not been an awful lot of changes to the team, maybe the style and the way he has changed things behind the scenes is different - stuff I wouldn't know about - and has had an effect.

"But what I do know about him is he has had good success at Sevilla."

Getting through the next couple of weeks relatively unscathed may be key for blue hopes of Champions League football on Merseyside next season.

But Moyes views this year's pursuit of even a European spot as a combative challenge.

"We feel very good because of the position we are in but it means nothing because we are not out of January yet," he said. "It's where you come in March and we need to keep ourselves in a position to do well then.

"It might no longer be about the big four in the Premier League, I would be thinking it's about the big eight.

"The spending power some of that big eight have got might get them closer to the top teams in the coming seasons.

"It's been an interesting Premier League and the teams below the top teams are doing very well this year.

"It will be very difficult to make the European placings this year because there are a lot of competitive teams."

Meanwhile, with the January transfer window closing in a matter of hours, Moyes says he

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