Raúl José on the weekend's draw in Chaves

Speaking with Sporting TV in reflection the weekend's draw with GD Chaves, assistant coach Raúl José, stepping in for the suspended Jorge Jesus, showed confidence in the Alvalade squad.

"We were really close to winning the game. We were losing, but we came from behind. But for a bit of bad luck, we would have won the three points. However the lads are feeling confident that we will get into the Portuguese Cup semi-finals. We have to improve in relation to a few details over the course of the match", said Raúl José.

Adrien and William Carvalho highlight the squad's confidence and clarify Bruno de Carvalho's visit to the dressing rooms

Alvalade skippers spoke with the press this weekend following Saturday's draw with Chaves, looking ahead to the coming Portuguese Cup tie against the same team.

"On Tuesday the only thing we can think about is winning. We know it will be a hard game against a well organised team, but we are motivated. We are all frustrated by bad results, but we have been putting the work in and we will carry on doing so", affirmed Adrien at the final whistle, followed by William Carvalho in the same tone: "We are all feeling motivated, despite not getting the result we wanted. Of course we feel frustrated, but I am sure we will respond well."

In relation to news in the press, the midfield pair guaranteed that nothing our of the ordinary took place in the dressing rooms at the final whistle with president Bruno de Carvalho. "Let me take the opportunity to clarify what is being said: the president came to the dressing room to show his dissatisfaction and as the captains of the team we spoke with him, that's all", said Adrien, with William adding: "While there are still points to win, we will believe in ourselves, because we are good enough. the president came to the dressing room to speak about the result, but it was a normal conversation. We listened to him and I am sure that on Tuesday we will go out there and get a good result."

Sporting CP held to a draw after another Bas Dost double

History shows that Sporting CP have a tough time in Chaves, with the team from Alvalade having won just two previous visits in thirteen attempts for tonight.

Although the thermometer read just three degrees at kick-off, the encounter got off to an intense start and after three minutes Rafa opened the scoring with a header from close range, linking up cross from Perdigão. The hosts couldn't believe their luck and Sporting CP took advantage of the resulting disorganisation to take the initiative and push forward. William set Bas Dost through on goal, but the Dutchman's shot failed to threaten. Holding down possession, although without creating many clear chances on goal, Sporting CP limited Chaves to just a single opportunity for the rest of the half, when Fábio Martins broke away down the left just after the half-hour mark and fired a shot just wide.

Alan Ruiz tried his luck from range just before the break, with what was the warning shot for his side's equaliser. Who else but Bas Dost, who sneaked ahead of his defender to head in a cross from Gelson Martins. Half-time saw Jorge Jesus switch out Alan Ruiz and Campbell for André and Bryan Ruiz and his side again pushed forward. The first real chance of the half came came when William picked out André, who passed on to Adrien for the Alvalade skipper to test Ricardo in the Chaves goal. The left flank was the source of almost all of Sporting CP's forays forward and it was from there that Bryan Ruiz fired in a cross that André came up just an inch short of latching on to-

With Sporting CP completely dominating, a second yellow card for Rúben Semedo sentenced the team from Alvalade to playing the last 18 minutes with 10 men. Shaking off the blow, Sporting CP again pushed forward and Bruno César and André linked up down the left, with the Brazilian then setting up Bas Dost for his second goal of the evening.

The turnaround looked complete and the Dutchman was taken off for Paulo Oliveira, but a wonder strike from Fábio Martins at the death ended up splitting the points.

Jorge Jesus names squad for first of double header against Chaves

Jorge Jesus has names his squad for Liga NOS matchday 17, kicking-off at 18h15 on Saturday the 14th of January.

Squad list in full:

1 - Rui Patrício
3 - Markovic
4 - Jefferson
7 - Joel Campbell
8 - Petrovic
10 - Bryan Ruiz
11 - Bruno César
13 - Sebastian Coates
14 - William Carvalho
15 - Paulo Oliveira
16 - André Felipe
19 - Douglas Teixeira
20 - Castaignos
22 - Elias Trindade
23 - Adrien Silva
26 - Azbe Jug
28 - Bas Dost
30 - Bruno Paulista
31 - Marvin Zeegelaar
34 - Beto Pimparel
35 - Rúben Semedo
47 - Ricardo Esgaio
66 - João Palhinha
73 - Matheus Pereira
77 - Gelson Martins
99 - Alan Ruiz

Filipe Chaby scoops similar award for Ledman LigaPro

The Sporting CP winger has yet again scooped an award, this time as the Liga NOS Youth Player of the Month for December.

Gelson had already claimed the nomination for August and September, this time tallying 16.34% of the vote to beat Nélson Semedo (Benfica - 13,67%) and Daniel Podence (Moreirense - 11.1%).

Meanwhile Filips Chaby claimed the same award for Ledman LigaPro.

Sales for two coming encounters against GD Chaves (Liga NOS and Portuguese Cup)

Sporting Clube de Portugal has began sales for the two coming matches against GD Chaves as follows:

LIGA NOS MATCHDAY 17

. Price: 13€
. Kick-off: 14th of January (Saturday) at 18h15

PORTUGUESE CUP QUARTER-FINAL

. Price: 5€
. Kick-off: 17th of January (Tuesday) at 20h15

Both matches will be played in Estádio Eng. Manuel Branco Teixeira, Chaves. Sales in Estádio José Alvalade are as follows:

WEDNESDAY (10H TO 20H) | Members with a Gamebox 2016/2017
THURSDAY (10H TO 20H) | Members
FRIDAY (10H TO 14H) | General Public

A valid Gamebox or Member card must be presented on the first two days of sales (December 2016 fees paid), with each card valid for one ticket. Each person may be bring a maximum of 4 cards.

Jorge Jesus praises Bas Dost for battling through injury

Speaking with the press at the final whistle on Sunday after his side's win against Feirense, Jorge Jesus thanked Bas Dost for playing though injury in a match which saw the Dutchman net twice.

"Bas Dost was in doubt right up until the last minute. He didn't train yesterday or today, but he said he would be okay so we used him. He is an excellent professional, but we can't be dependent on him. He needs players to support him, both through the middle and from the wings. Normally my teams don't have such a focus on just one player for goals", said Jesus.

The Sporting CP coach wen on to speak in greater depth about the match and the injury picked up by Adrien: "It was a good first-half, with 45 minutes of really dynamic play. The positioning of Adrien and Alan Ruiz gave us a bit more creativity in the build up. We didn't score a third goal and Feirense managed to find their footing a bit. Adrien isn't just any player, he is a starting midfielder for the European champions. We don't quite win every time he plays, but we did feel a bit fragile after he went off. After that Bryan Ruiz settled things down."

To finish, Jesus reflected on Alan Ruiz's performance: "He has always been a player we were going to invest in, but he came in from Colón, who don't have big objectives. He has come in to a very demanding club and he still doesn't have the capacity to play 90 minutes the way we want, but he is a quality player. His pass for Bas Dost was fantastic."

Jesus announces squad for Sunday's Liga NOS hosting of Feirense

Jorge Jesus has released his squad list for Liga NOS matchday 12, in Estádio José Alvalade:

26- Azbe Jug
34- Beto Pimparel

4- Jefferson
7- Joel Campbell
10- Bryan Ruiz
11- Bruno César
13- Coates
14- William Carvalho
15- Paulo Oliveira
16- André Felipe
19- Douglas Teixeira
20- Luc Castaignos
22- Elias Trindade
23- Adrien Silva
28- Bas Dost
47- Ricardo Esgaio
66- João Palhinha
73- Matheus Pereira
77- Gelson Martins
99- Alan Ruiz

Jorge Jesus looks ahead to Sunday's Liga NOS hosting of Feirense

Jorge Jesus sat down with the press this Saturday to speak about the weekend's hosting of C.D. Feirense. With recent refereeing performances attracting attention both on and off the pitch, the Sporting coach did not shy away from revealing the impact on his team.

"The lads were really hurt by us getting knocked out of the League Cup, especially with how it happened. We won't hide the fact that confidence is low after a loss. Making mistakes is natural, but always making the same mistakes against the same team isn't", said Jesus, going on to reflect on what he expects from Sunday's match: "Hopefully we will get past this and beat a team who will sit back and look to attack us on the break. We want the tree points."

Jorge Jesus highlights his side's mature display against a determined Belenenses side

Speaking in a pre-match press conference, Jorge Jesus praised his side's patience in finally breaking a spirited Belenenses side with an added-time winner from Bas Dost.

"It was a difficult game when you look at the result. We didn't really give Belenenses the chance to attack for the first 40 minutes and we were really good when it came to positioning, but a goal was hard to come by. I told the lads that if we carried on playing like we were then we would score eventually", opened the Sporting CP coach, adding a word on the points gap at the top of Liga NOS: "We let Belenenses go forward a bit in the second-half. You can see the lads are a bit tired, largely due to playing 10 games in a month, but wins bring confidence. Obviously the quality of the lads isn't being questioned at all and we still feel the same pressure, win or lose."