Jorge Jesus ahead of League Cup encounter with Paços de Ferreira

Jorge Jesus spoke with Sporting TV ahead of the League Cup encounter with Paços de Ferreira, setting out his stall for what he sees as another opportunity to bring silverware to Alvalade.

“I am expecting a hard game against an opponent that has proven difficult in the league. We are coming into this game after the holiday season and neither team will be at their best, but we will use the game to give some of the lads a run out and to contribute to the competitiveness of the squad. Some players who have played a lot in the league could be picked, but we have an important game coming up do we will be mixing up ideas a bit. Both Matheus and Gelson have been important for balancing out the squad. We will go into the League Cup with the objective of winning it. My objective is to overcome the idea that Sporting doesn't win this kind of competition, which is what I was brought in for."

“Paços de Ferreira is one of those teams that isn't playing for the top places, but that has the quality to fight for a place in the Europa League. They have had a good start to the season and they will cause problems for us. They are one of those sides who put everything into the cup competitions and their coach will use his best team", added the Sporting coach, continuing: “The squad have come back in good form after the break and we have been pushing hard in training these last two days. We haven't got any medical problems except the ones we had with Teo, Tobias, Bruno Paulista and Mané, who was injured with the national team and hasn't recovered yet. William has a bit of a problem which isn't serious, but he won't be in the squad."

Jesus went on to reflect on seeing 8,000 fans turn out to see his squad train on the 26th of December, as well as on his time so far at the Sporting helm: "Only a lot of passion and faith brings that many fans out and the fact that so many were young people is promising for the future. The team has to fight to bring back the prestige of this club and that is what the president and board are working to do. It has been great here so far and I wasn't expecting us to be where we are right now. We were at the top of the league for a long time and I wasn't expecting that, because Benfica and FC Porto are really strong. It is all credit to the work we have been putting in, just like we did in the Europa League to come back from a bad start. The players deserve the credit, because they have shown that they believe they can win the league. We are on the right track, we have won back some of our pride and we are feeling what it is to be Sporting."

Sporting-Paços de Ferreira will kick-off at 20h00 on Tuesday, in Estádio José Alvalade.