Rui Patrício, William Carvalho and João Mário in Portuguese squad

João Mário, William Carvalho and Rui Patrício all feature in the Portuguese squad announced by Fernando Santos this Friday, for two friendlies against Russia (14 of November in Krasnodar) and Luxemburg (17th of November, in Luxemburg).

Squad list in full: Rui Patrício, Anthony Lopes, Eduardo; Cédric, Vieirinha, Pepe, Bruno Alves, José Fonte, Neto, Eliseu, Raphael Guerreiro; William, Danilo, João Moutinho, João Mário, André Gomes, André André; Bernardo Silva, Nani, Lucas João, Nélson Oliveira, Gonçado Guedes and Ricardo.

Matheus Pereira and João Mário after 3-0 loss in Albania

Matheus Pereira again featured in Jorge Jesus' side this Thursday, in a 3-0 loss to Skënderbeu. Speaking at the final whistle, the Brazilian accepted that his side made mistakes, but affirmed that Sporting can still qualify for the knock-out stages: "We didn't start well. Skënderbeu made the most of that and they defended well. We had chances, but we let in two goals from counter-attacks."

João Mário, who made his Europa League debut after a three-match suspension, also spoke to the press at the final whistle: "We made some mistakes in the first-half which dictated the rest of the game, but it is still down to us to get into the next stage."

Jorge Jesus reflects on his side's loss to Skënderbeu

Speaking after his side's 3-0 to Skënderbeu, Jorge Jesus affirmed that qualification for the Europa League knock-out stage is still within each.

“After the draw in the other match in the group we wanted to push on, but that didn't happen. We aren't out of it yet, but it is harder now. We started badly and we let in two goals. After the break, losing 2-0 and with 10 men, the idea was to try and get back into it, but we let in a third goal. Things like that happen in football sometimes and this is the kind of thing we have to learn from. We lost the game, but not the chance to qualify", said the Sporting coach at the final whistle.

Sporting slip to heavy defeat in Albania

Sporting put in a forgettable performance in Albania this Thursday in a 3-0 loss that saw Rui Patrício sent off and Ewerton substituted through injury.

Going into the encounter following a potentially helpful draw between Besiktas and Lokomotiv Moscow, the team from Alvalade made a largely expected dominating start to the encounter, holding down long spells of possession but without creating any clean chances on goal. However, a disasterous ten minutes saw Skënderbeu open the scoring in the 14th minute through Lilaj. Adding insult to injury, Rui Patrício was shown a red card five minutes later and Lilaj converted from the penalty spot to leave Sporting with an uphill task to salvage points in Albania.

Trailing, Jorge Jesus sacrificed Tanaka – one of the surprises in the evening's starting line-up, which also saw Tobias, Jonatha, Bruno Paulista, Matheus, Mané and Montero feature from the off – to keep Matheus and Mané out wide in support of Montero, but Sporting were unable to battle back and went two goals down at the break.

Sporting had the chance to pull a goal back early after the restart, but Skënderbeu's third courtesy of a chip from Nimaga to beat Boeck from outside of the 18-yard box set the score beyond Sporting's reach. The loss sees Sporting remain in third place in Group H with four points, two behind Besiktas and four behind Lokomotiv.

Jorge Jesus focused on claiming three points in Albania

With four points, Sporting currently occupy 3rd place in Europa League H, but are just a single point of Besiktas in 2nd. A win in Albania will keep the Alvalade club's hopes of alive of qualifying for the knock-out stages.

“It is fundamental that we win if we are going to get through the group stages. It won't be like in Lisbon, it will be more divided and more complicated, against a team who will be more relaxed and who will play better than they did in Alvalade, but we believe in the work we are doing. We will rotate some players, but we aren't talking about a game that isn't important here, because the Europa League is important, but some of the players need this kind of experience. We have a responsibility to try and win every competition we are in and the Europa League is one of the competitions that we want to go as far as possible in", opened Jorge Jesus in a pre-match press conference.

Asked about the unenviable record of not having won a European away game in four years, Jorge Jesus preferred to focus on the importance of winning the three points: "We are concentrating on winning games and the importance of being in with a chance to get through to the next round. If we can break that record then great, but I honestly didn't even know about it."

Sporting will take on Skënderbeu at 20h05 on Thurday, in Europa League Group H.

João Mário back in contention after suspension

João Mário is back in Jorge Jesus' options for this Thursday's encounter against Skënderbeu, after serving a 3 match suspension following a red card against CSKA Moscow in the Russian capital.

Speaking about his first match in the Europa League, João Mário proved with the chance to contribute: "I really want to play and I don't mind if it is on the right or in the middle."

The Alvalade younger went on to affirm that his side is execting a tough encounter, but guaranteed that Sporting are up to the challenge: "Away games are always complicated, but we all know what we can do and the quality we have", said João Mário, before finishing on squad rotation: "No matter who plays, everyone will do their best to help the team."

Sporting will take on Skenderbëu this Thursday in Albania, in Europa League Group H.

Tickets on sale starting Thursday

Tickets for Liga NOS matchday 10, between Futebol Clube de Arouca and Sporting Clube de Portugal will go on sale at the Estádio José Alvalade (from 10h00 to 20h00) as follows:

THURSDAY | Club Members with a Gamebox 2015/2016 and October 2015 fees paid
FRIDAY | Club Members without a Gamebox and October 2015 fees paid
SATURDAY | General public

The match will kick off at 20h30 on Sunday the 8th of November, in the Arouca Municipal Stadium. Tickers are priced at 20€ each.

For Sporting fans in the north of the country, tickets will also be on sale at the Solar do Norte Delegation (Porto) and the Gondomar and São João da Madeira Sporting Supporters' Clubs.

Europa League: Skënderbeu vs Sporting

Sporting would like to announce the following for fans traveling to Albania for the Europa League match against Skënderbeu:

Europa League matchday four will kick off at 21:05CET in the Elbasan Arena, approximately 1 hour form where the squad will be based.

The meeting point for traveling fans is on the west side of the Elbasan Arena, where Sporting fans can enter the stadium.

Fans are encouraged to arrive 2 hours before kick-off.

A Sporting representative will be at the Elbasan Arena to assist all traveling fans as needed.

Jorge Jesus highlights the importance of keeping a grip on first place after win against Estoril

Speaking at the final whistle after watching Sporting open up a five-point lead at the top of I Liga, Jorge Jesus highlighted his side's recent defensive performances, having only let in two goals in the last five encounters.

“There were some tough periods tonight, with Estoril creating problems like we thought they would. When a team is in first, it is normal to have games like this one, but I thought the lads showed that they knew what to do and took the right decisions. Sometimes it looks like we are taking one touch too many, but that is how we have been training. Estoril positioned themselves well defensively, but we fixed some things in the second-half and improved. We had more opportunities and wasted some chances on open goal. The most important factor was that we didn't concede, because we are strong defensively. That is what won us this game", opened the Alvalade boss in a flash interview.

In parallel, Jesus spoke about the importance of winning after last week's 3-0 derby win: “It was important to win after the match in Estádio da Luz, because every match is worth three points. Today we had 40 thousand people in the stadium and that is a sign of the fans' confidence in us. It was important to stay top of the league, because if we think it was hard to get where we are then it will be even harder to stay there, but that is what makes champions."

William Carvalho's reaction to 1-0 win over Estoril

William Carvalho was given the captain's armband in place of the suspended Adrien against Estoril on Saturday.

Speaking about his side's performance, the Portuguese international commented: “We started well and we had a lot of possession, but we didn't create that many chances. After half-time we tired Estoril out. It was a good result and the lads deserve a pat on the back. It was worth another three points and we have to keep winning now. There are a lot of matches to play until the end of the season and we want to stay at the top of the league. We will keep putting the work in and our opponents should be worried about us."