Pedro Empis rallies the troops ahead of the week's trip to Coimbra

Sporting CP B will travel to Coimbra to face Ledman LigaPro second-placed outfit Académica this week, but Pedro Empis is not intimidated the the former Liga NOS opposition.

"We haven't turned in the best results lately, but we know we are playing good football. We are creating chances and that brings confidence, no matter who you are playing against. Académica are a really strong side, with a logn history in Portuguese football. They defend well and it will be a hard match, but we want the three points as always", said the Alvalade defender.

Mauro Riquicho wants the three points from FC Porto B this weekend

Mauro Riquicho is back in action after a long spell sidelined with a serious leg injury. Looking ahead to the weekend's Ledman LigaPro action against FC Porto B, Riquicho affirmed: "We are ready, like we always are. Of course this is a special match, because it is against FC Porto B, but we will approach it in exactly the same way. They are a good side and they won the title last year, but we won't make it easy for them."

Sporting CP B coach João de Deus on the weekend's Ledman LigaPro action

Mauro Riquicho makes return after long spell on the sidelines with serious injury

Sporting CP B missed out to V. Guimarães B (2-0) this week, on Ledman LigaPro matchday 17 - goals from Mama Baldé (own goal, 6') and Dénis Duarte (22').

However, the result did little to overshadow the return of defender Mauro Riquicho, who has been out of action since the 16th of September 2015. Twenty one years old at the time, Riquicho suffered a serious leg injury against Leixões and has since made a miraculous recovery.

João de Deus happy with his side's performance despite missing out on the points

His side might have come away empty handed from Sunday's hosting of Penafiel, but João de Deus was not completely displeased with the performance.

"If you put the result to one side, then I would say we played well. Although we were missing a bit of maturity and experience at times", said the Sporting CP B coach in an interview at the final whistle, adding his analysis of the encounter: "We let a goal in from a dead ball situation which we had been working a lot on in training, so we are feeling a bit frustrated. Both halves were essentially the same, with Penafiel better in the opening 10 minutes. We showed touches of quality in the first-half and had chances on goal which we missed through a bit of immaturity. There is no getting around it, this is an under-23 team."

Cold weather and a mature Penafiel side deny Sporting CP B of the points

Sporting CP B narrowly missed out to Penafiel (2-1) on Liga LedmanPro matchday 16 this Sunday afternoon, at the Sporting Academy.

Not even a full 60 seconds had ticked over when Kalindi crossed a ball into the box that Wellington converted on, handing Sporting B an uphill challenge compounded on by some remarkably cold weather. It took João de Deus's side the best part of half an hour to properly settle, aided by a break in the afternoon's rainfall, and Pedro Delgado reestablished the deadlock with a goal in the 28th minute.

The goal totally blew away Sporting CP B's nerves and Penafiel could do little more than drop back under a hail of attacking football. Baldé tried his luck twice (37' and 42'), followed by efforts from Pedro Delgado (41') and Escobar (42'), but the half-time result remained fixed at on-a-piece.

While Sporting CP B continued to dominate after the break, Penafiel were also looking dangerous when in possession. On 59 minutes André Fontes blasted a shot against the post, before Stojkovic pulled off a penalty stop a minute later after Budag had brought down Kalindi in the area. Making hte most of the momentum, Penafiel struck 12 minutes from time through João Paulo to sentence the final result.

Mateus Pereira claims win for 9-man Sporting CP B

Sporting B beat União da Madeira 1-0 this Wednesday, courtesy of a 35th minute strike from Matheus Pereira.

It was a particularly deserved win for João de Deus's side, who battled on to finish with nine men after the sending off of Kiki and Ricardo Esgaio.

The result moved Sporting B up to sixth overall in Ledman LigaPro with 24 points from 15 matches. 

Leonardo Ruiz speaks to ZeroZero about his time so far with Sporting CP

On loan from Atlético Nacional, Leonardo Ruiz has been making quite impact with Sporting CP's B team, having so far netted six goals in 10 matches. Speaking in an interview with the website ZeroZero, the Colombian striker looked back on his time so far in the Portuguese capital.

"I have been putting in the work and when you do that it pays off on the pitch. I try to make the most of the chances the coach gives me by scoring, that is my job. I have been made to feel really welcome and it is thanks to the coaching staff that it has been so easy to fit in here", said Ruiz, going on to affirm his intentions of getting into Jorge Jesus's side and to reveal who his own Alvalade heroes are: “That is my objective and I am working as hard as I can to make that happen. I am trying to make the most of my opportunities to make sure I am ready. I really look up to Bas Dost. He is a really good striker and I see a lot of how he plays im me. Internationally I really like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Falcão.”