Jorge Jesus on his side's win in Arouca

Jorge Jesus used Tuesday's League Cup encounter to give a run out to his squad this Tuesday night, in Sporting's 1-0 win over Arouca.

“We can take two positives away from this to be honest. The win and the fact that some young players came on. You can train all you want, but it is matches that give confidence and fitness to get us ready for the league run in. We managed the squad in Portimão and that allowed us to go to Paços de Ferreira and push really hard. We wanted to be in the semi-final of this competition and we did everything we could to do that", said the Sporting coach at the final whistle, adding: "The League Cup is an important competition which I have already won five times.Getting into the final is really nice, but most teams are obviously focused on the league."

To finish, Jorge Jesus also tackled a question on the transfer window: "I am not going to speculate. I said we wanted a defender and our priority was the return of Ruben Semedo. We reached a deal with V. Setúbal and he trained at the Academy today."

Jorge Jesus includes 19 for League Cup showdown

Jorge Jesus has included 19 players in his squad for League Cup Group C matchday 3 against Arouca:

Goalkeepers: Marcelo Boeck and Azbe Jug

Defenders: João Pereira, Ricardo Esgaio, Schelotto, Paulo Oliveira, Ewerton, Domingos Duarte and Marvin

Midfielders: Aquilani e André Martins

Forwards: Carlos Mané, Gelson Martins, Dramé, Daniel Podence, Matheus Pereira, Cristian Ponde, Montero and Tanaka

Arouca-Sporting will get underway at 18h30 on Tuesday, in the Arouca Municipal Stadium.

Jorge Jesus ahead of tomorrow's visit to Arouca

O Sporting will travel to Arouca tomorrow for a 18h30 kick off, in League Cup Group C. Although mathematically possible to secure a place in the next round, Sporting require Portimonense to lose in Paços de Ferreira and for goal difference to turn in favour.

“We know what happens depends on other results and we have to get a better goal different than Portimonense, so of course we want to win. In Portimão we didn't want to put this match at risk. We still have a chance and we are going to take it. I will included four or five players from the B team, who will bring a bit of balance", affirmed Jorge Jesus in an exclusive interview with Sporting TV, adding: "I don't know what team Arouca will use, because they have no chance of getting into the next round. It is going to be a competitive match, but it definitely won't be Arouca's best team because they have other priorities. What matters is that we at least win, then we will see what happens with Portimonense."

Jorge Jesus went on to explain further his inclusion of players from Sporting B, including Gelson Martins and Matheus Pereira: "This is their time to adapt to how we play. It will help them be ready in the future. They are still young lads and I believe a lot of them can go on to do what Gelson and Matheus are doing. Honestly I didn't know a lot about Sporting's youth players, although I knew some from the national team, like Gelson for example. I was surprised to come across players like Gelson and Matheus, with such quality and potential to play for Sporting."

Asked about Adrien and Gelson Martins' time with the club doctors this week, Jesus proved untroubled. "Adrien doesn't look too bad, but Gelson is a bit different. He is coming on, but we have been limiting his playing time because he isn't fully ready yet", explained Jesus, going on to add a word on Slimani's impervious form: "He has a lot of potential and we want to help him. We is doing a great job individually and collectively and we believe in him."

The January transfer window is still wide open and there has been no shortage of links with Alvalade, however Jesus finished with a word of praise for his currently available squad: "We can work more with the squad as time goes on and get more quality out of the lads. The players have come on really quickly in six months and they deserve praise for that. It will be a hard run in at the end of the season and we will have to be ready. When I see we, I don't only mean the players. I mean everybody, because our rivals are going to try and unsteady us."

Jorge Jesus on his side's loss in Portimão

Jorge Jesus took a moment to speak with the press at the end of this Tuesday's League Cup loss to Portimonense.

“It was a game that didn't go well for us. Portimonense are a good team with a lot of technical and individual quality, but they also were a bit lucky. there scored from their only shot in the first-half and then from a penalty. We wasted a lot of chances in the second-half, including a penalty as well. Football can be like this and you are leaving yourself open to this sort of thing if you don't score", said the Alvalade boss, adding: "We would have liked to win for all of our fans who live down in the Algarve."

Bruno César on Sporting's 2-0 loss to Portimonense

"We knew it would be a hard game and we made some mistakes, but we still have a game against Arouca and nothing is over yet", said Bruno César at the final whistle on Tuesday.

Reflecting on his side's loss to the II Liga outfit, César added: "We had been warned about Portimonense's quality and it is no coincidence that they are playing well in II Liga, but now we have to puck ourselves up. We should have played better, but we have to look at what went wrong and try to improve."