Jorge Jesus pleased with the three points from his must changed side

Jorge Jesus proved happy with his side's 1-0 CTT Cup win against Arouca this Wednesday night, in a match which saw the Alvalade coach ring the changes.

"Every player in the squad is important and that is why we made the decision to give the lads a run out tonight. We achieved our objectives for this match and it was a really positive night for us. The intensity dropped off in the last 15 minutes and you could see that both sides were tired. We could have done better collectively at times, but that is part if the growth of any squad", opened the Sporting CP coach, adding a further analysis on his rotation: "When you have a squad of 25 players and you are in various competitions, you have to give the everyone a chance or risk losing motivation. We have never won the League Cup and honestly this competition should have a Europa League place for the winner, which would make it more competative."

Speaking about the apparently injury to Luc Castaignos, Jesus prefers to wait for the results of scans before commenting: "It was a shock with the goalkeeper and he hit his knee. Frederico Varandas, who is a great doctor, will look at him tomorrow. Castaignos looked like he was trying to avoid contact a bit an unfortunately and it resulted in not scoring and getting injured."

Alan Ruiz strike secures three points in CTT Cup opener

"Força Chapecoense", the chant spread around the Estádio José Alvalade in tribute to the Brazilian side after this week's tragic events in Colombia. There was no shortage of tributes to Marcelo Boeck too, who is currently on loan with Chapecoense but who did not travel with the team.

After a minute's silence, the game got off to roaring start, with Rui Sacramento slapping away a shot from Elias. Sancidino responded a minute later for Arouca, but hit shot finished up the wrong side of the post.

On 10 minutes Alan Ruiz tried to steer a free-kick towards goal, but to little success. Five minutes later Markovic charged forward with possession and eventually released Alan Ruiz, who had the vision to find Joel Campbell down the left flank. The Costa Rican threw a poisonous looking cross into the box, but Scramento comfortably brought the move to an end with a secure safe.

Again Arouca rallied down the other end almost instantly and Vitor managed to ghost his way past various players before being robbed of possession by Elias. A free-kick on the half-hour mark gave Douglas golden opportunity with an unmarked header, but his effort proved off target. Campbell fired another shot wide of the mark on 34 minutes and with one minute left before the break Crivellaro stole back possession and Vítor broke through on goal, only to be denied by Beto once again. If you don't put your goals away then you always run the risk of conceding and Alan Ruiz obliged with a brilliant touch into space and low placed shot seconds before the whistle.

André could have made it two shortly after the restart after a latching on to the rebound from a Petrovic header, but he drove his shot straight at the Arouca keeper. Risking more going forward in search of an equaliser, Arouca began to leave space at the back and Markovic made the most of it to start bombarding the visiting 18-yard box with venomous crosses. Castaignos really could have made it two with a quarter of an hour left, after an inch-perfect pass from Campbell, but in the end the solo strike from Ruiz proved enough to seal the points.

Jesus announces squad for CTT Cup matchday 1

Jorge Jesus has announced his squad list for CTT Cup matchday 1, which will see Sporting CP host Arouca in Alvalade at 18h15 on Wednesday.

Squad list in full:

34 – Beto Pimparel
26 – Azbe Jug

3 – Lazar Markovic
4 – Jefferson
7 – Joel Campbell
8 – Petrovic
11 – Bruno César
13 – Sebastian Coates
15 – Paulo Oliveira
16 – André Felipe
19 – Douglas Teixeira
20 – Luc Castaignos
21 – João Pereira
22 – Elias Trindade
25 – Marcelo Meli
47 – Ricardo Esgaio
73 – Matheus Pereira
99 – Alan Ruiz

Jorge Jesus looking to set the pace in CTT Cup opener

Three games stand in between Sporting CP and a place in the CTT Cup knock-out stages. In Jorge Jesus' way are Varzim, Arouca and V. Setúbal and the Alvalade coach is looking to start off on the right foot this week against Lito Vidigal's team.

Update on Ezequiel Schelotto

Sporting CP's medical department has issued the following clinical update:

Ezequiel Schelotto: picked up a calf muscle injury and is expected to be out for four weeks.

Joel Campbell on Saturday's Liga NOS win against Boavista

Joel Campbell was given a chance to show what he can do this Saturday, with a place in the starting line-up against Boavista.

"It was a good game and we got the three points, which was important for us. It was a hard against a good team, but we did what we had to", said the Costa Rican striker at the final whistle, adding: "We were really focused at the start and we put Real Madrid behind us. We are on the right track and these three points will lift us going forward now."

Solo strike from Bas Dost secures the three points in Estádio do Bessa

Sporting CP claimed a thoroughly deserved win in Estádio do Bessa this Saturday night, courtesy of a header from Bas Dost after a stroke of brilliance from Gelson Martins.

It was the Dutch hitman's seventh Liga NOS goal, who found the back of the net after hitting the post a few minutes earlier. It was actually a very different side fielded by Jorge Jesus, with Joel Campbell playing off Dost and Bruno César and Gelson roaming the flanks in what was a much more dynamic Alvalade offence.

Sporting CP really did dominate from start to finish, with a performance that was only soured by an extremely exaggerated sending off of Rúben Semedo (two bookable offences).

Jorge Jesus happy with three points in Estádio do Bessa

Jorge Jesus was evidently pleased with his side's win in Estádio do Bessa this Saturday, although the final result was short of reflecting Sporting CP's dominance.

"We had a really good first-half, with three excellent opportunities and a goal. We showed really good quality going forward and in defence we were great throughout. We didn't play as well in the second-half, but we secured the win", opened the Sporting CP coach, going on to speak about the difficulties of alternating between Champions League and domestic action: "We beat Arouca 3-0 after the match against Borussia Dortmund. We played really well in the first-half today, but we didn't dominate as much in the second. That is normal though, with the lads still being a bit tired."

finishing with a comment on the sending off of Rúben Semedo, Jesus was understandably displeased : "He (Semedo) was only shown a second-half because of pressure from the Boavista players. Honestly I didn't like the refereeing, although there were no major incidents. That referee has a great career ahead of him, but today I didn't like how he managed the game."

Jesus announces squad for trip north to face Boavista

Jorge Jesus has announced his squad to travel to Estádio do Bessa, on Liga NOS matchday 11:

1 - Rui Patrício
2 - Ezequiel Schelotto
3 - Lazar Markovic
7 - Joel Campbell
10 - Bryan Ruiz
11 - Bruno César
13 - Sebastian Coates
14 - William Carvalho
15 - Paulo Oliveira
16 - André Felipe
20 - Luc Castaignos
21 - João Pereira
22 - Elias Trindade
23 - Adrien Silva
28 - Bas Dost
31 - Marvin Zeegelaar
34 - Beto Pimparel
35 - Rúben Semedo
77 - Gelson Martins
99 - Alan Ruiz

Jorge Jesus shares his thoughts on the weekend's trip north

Jorge Jesus was in the press room at the Sporting Academy this Friday afternoon, looking ahead to what is always a tricky visit to Bessa to face Boavista.

"It will be a hard match, not only because of Boavista's quality but also their history. It is a really charismatic stadium. Boavista are doing the best with the characteristics that their squad has and they will want to take points off us. However we know what we are capable of and some of the lads are showing signs of good form now. We are feeling confident. Last year we drew there, but this year we want the three points", opened the Alvalade coach, going on to look at the weekend's opponent in further depth: "With their current coach they haven't lost a game, with the exception of in extra-time in the Cup. They will want points and they are aggressive in defence, especially at home. Naturally the game will be different to the one with Real Madrid, especially in how we get ourselves prepared."

Jorge Jesus also added an analysis of how his squad has developed so far during the current campaign: "The best is yet to come. You can only get the best out of a squad by working hard on the training ground and we have had more sessions with the lads nows. I am talking particularly about the lads who arrived this season, who are really well integrated into the squad now. The teams I manage are normally better in the second half of the season and we are developing really well."