The coach talks ahead of the Monday fixture against Gil Vicente FC

On their return to Liga Portugal action and the Estádio José Alvalade, Sporting Clube de Portugal face Gil Vicente FC this Monday in an 8:15 pm kickoff, rounding off Matchday 12.

On the eve of the match, coach Rúben Amorim gave a press conference to comment on the fixture.

“In the UEFA Europa League we missed out on our main objective, which was to top the group, but we had already secured our progress. We know where we went wrong in the Atalanta BC game, and we have worked on it as much as possible, because we have only really had one training session since, with the players running around a little. We have prepared tactically as much as possible for this game," he began by telling journalists.

Talking about Vítor Campelos' side, who currently occupy 13th place with 11 points, he said: “He is a coach who won here last year [as coach of GD Chaves], and they are a team that play very well, with three very fast players up front and three midfielders who play very well with the ball and can cause us problems. It will be a difficult game, in which we want to get back to winning ways. We need that to continue on our path,” highlighted Amorim.

He confirmed that Daniel Bragança and Iván Fresneda will remain out due to their respective injuries, but that Marcus Edwards “is doing well, is fit and could be used tomorrow," and that Viktor Gyökeres will be in the squad.

“He was a doubt, but he will be called up and we will see if he is a starter, because he came off with a knee problem [during the game in Italy]”.

Asked about the four yellow cards that leave Sebastián Coates, Gonçalo Inácio and Morten Hjulmand one card away from suspension, Amorim said that he will not be requesting they force bookings in order to have a clean slate against FC Porto.

“We are not going to do that because there are three points that are at stake in this game,” he stressed.

Speaking about Pedro Gonçalves, the coach firmly stated that "in the last match he missed three opportunities that he usually puts away, but despite the less good phase he is going through, ‘Pote’ “will play again.”

“I didn't say anything to him about it. These are phases that all players go through. He is young, and has very high demands of himself. Five goals and three assists at the start of the season is not enough for him, and the better the players are, the greater the demands. Matching that, year after year, is not easy, but there is time to get back to those numbers,"  he said, adding: “He has played very well, he is very intelligent, and he is paying for the success he has had before."

Finally, taking into account the possibility that Hidemasa Morita, Ousmane Diomande and Geny Catamo will be called up for their national teams - in the Asian Cup and African Cup of Nations, respectively - during the beginning of next year, Amorim highlighted that this will not force Sporting CP to make movements in the winter transfer window.

“We are not going to look at the transfer market to fill a month without Morita, Ousmane and Geny. We don’t have that capacity, but everything we do in the transfer market will be with this season and the next in mind,” he affirmed.