Jorge Jesus' thoughts ahead of Sporting's hosting of Beleneness

Speaking ahead of Sporting's Monday night hosting of Belenenses, Jorge Jesus alerted to the danger of any Liga NOS encounter, with this week's fixture also having the extra emotion of being a Lisbon derby.

“Sporting-Belenenses is a derby, so it is never easy. Belenenses are a quality side with good payers and they are having a good start to the season, like us. We are ready for the problems they can cause us, especially with how they will probably set out in defence. We will have to be creative to break down their defence, which is normal when teams visit us. It really won't be that different to things we have already faced this season", commented the Alvalade boss, going on to speak about his time with the club so far.

“Six months? Well it has only been four months of competition. In terms of our performances, things have been happening quicker than we expected, but that is down to the players, their quality and their passion for Sporting. We are doing well, but we still haven't played a third of the season yet and the only thing we have won is the Super Cup. We have built a sense of pride for the fans and we want that to keep growing", said Jesus, before revealing that Naldo, Bruno Paulista and William have recovered and could be available tomorrow, while Schelotto “is still finding his physical and tactical form”.

With a tricky fixture also awaiting one of Sporting's direct rivals, Jesus proved keen to keep the focus on his own side's task: "We have to focus on our match. What matters is that we do better than our opposition, so we have to keep our focus and just worry about ourselves."

Sporting-Belenenses will kick off at 19h00 on Monday the 30th of November, in Estádio José Alvalade.