Villa host Rangers on Tuesday knowing defeat would see their visitors leapfrog them and plunge Villa into the Barclays Premier League relegation zone.
Alan Hutton, Ashley Westwood and Scott Sinclair are out while Tom Cleverley, Aly Cissokho and Kieran Richardson are major doubts.
Philippe Senderos is unlikely to feature while Libor Kozak continues to recover from his broken leg.
And Sherwood admitted some players may have to play through the pain barrier in Villa's survival fight.
"I've never seen an injury crisis like it
I never thought I'd be one of those managers who moans about injuries but I have to," he said, with Villa 17th, three points ahead of QPR but with an inferior goal difference.
"You get one back and lose another two
They're not trivial injuries, they're always two, three, four weeks
It's okay in September but not now
That's pretty much writing off the season.
"It's something you have to get on with and hopefully there's light at the end of the tunnel.
"It's a case of seeing who can come in
A few are back from injury, medically, but physically, it's a need-must situation
Some of them will be risked."
Sherwood worked with QPR boss Chris Ramsey at Tottenham for seven years and Ramsey was his assistant when Sherwood was head coach at White Hart Lane last season.
But the Villa chief insists their friendship will be put to one side ahead of the game
"I haven't spoke to him for a while
I keep red buttoning him," he joked, about hanging up on Ramsey's calls.
"Our relationship has not changed
I hope he does well
I respect Chris as a coach and a manager.
"For someone to put his head on the block like he has, good luck to him - not tomorrow though
I hope we both survive
"Chris has done a good job
It's impossible to judge someone who has come in with 15 games left, with someone else's players, with no pre-season and asked to turn it around
Give the boy a break."
Source : PA
Source: PA