The coach previews the meeting with Casa Pia AC

Sporting Clube de Portugal go to the Estádio Municipal de Rio Maior this Sunday to face Casa Pia AC in Liga Portugal action. Coach Rui Borges previewed the match in his press conference.

The team's form
“The team are doing well and have shown that they are growing in terms of physical strength and confidence. We are doing better, the team feel better individually and collectively, and I believe we will only improve”.

Analysis of Casa Pia AC
“They've had a great season. They are a very committed, cohesive and defensively compact team. Despite having lost some players in the January transfer window, they remain a very fast and strong team with quick attacks. They play with a low-mid block and in Alvalade used a line of six, but I believe that tomorrow they won't use that formation, because they have confidence and, therefore, must maintain their usual dynamics. They are a confident team, who will cause us problems and who haven't lost at home since August. This clearly demonstrates the difficulties we face, in addition to the weather conditions. We'll see what the pitch looks like. Regardless of these difficulties, we have to be the better side and win”.

The club's 100% record against Casa Pia AC
“I don't look at it much, either negatively or positively. I look at the moment of form itself. We have got two wins, which gives us more confidence. The atmosphere is fantastic, but above all we have to maintain the intensity, competitiveness, dedication and rigor that we had in the game against GD Estoril Praia, and then combine collective and individual quality”.

Possible returns for Hjulmand and Morita
“They are two players who could be available for the game. As I said before, they are dependent on how they feel. They are improving, but I believe they could be a solution for minutes in tomorrow’s game”.

The adaptation of Biel Teixeira
“There is a lack of opportunities to play, but at the right time he will get his. On a daily basis we look at what we can work on better in relation to his adaptation to the team and our league. He looks very motivated to be representing a big club and to learn as well. It makes me happy to see him wanting to improve”.

Zeno Debast's best position
“I look at Zeno for his characteristics, because technically he is very well evolved. At 21 years old he is growing too. For a centre back, he's not very aggressive. He's fast and has technical quality, but he has to grow in terms of duels and the use of his body. In both defence and midfield, I think he has enormous potential. I even think that as a midfielder he has been more aggressive than as a defender. Call me crazy, but in the future he could be a great midfielder. I really like talking to the player and understanding his feelings, because that's the only way the team improve. At this moment, he has managed to respond”.

Lessons for the final stretch of the season
“The president has already clarified everything regarding the transfer market. I'm calm about the squad I have. We will reach the end and we will be champions. In our minds there is only one thing: Being able to be Two-time Champions. I don't even think about the transfer market. We have to be capable, with the team we have, of becoming champions. That’s our thinking”.

Taking care with Viktor Gyökeres
“In terms of managing his fitness, not even we can put the brakes on him sometimes. He is very focused and very committed to his job and everything we ask him to do. He has showed extraordinary commitment, his ambition is enormous and that's good for a young team like ours. He has had extraordinary seasons at Sporting CP and of course there will be great teams around the world who want him. He seems committed and ambitious for the end of the season”.

Tactical variations and full-backs on the flanks
“It’s very subjective. In terms of our initial structure, in the last game we returned to a line of three and I went more for the comfort of the characteristics of the players we had available, without straying from our gameplan. When I arrived we played 4-4-2 to defend, but we often built with three at the back. They are natural things. Rúben [Amorim] sometimes played with two wingers, but that will also be affected by the players we have available. We won 3-1 with Matheus [Reis] and Iván [Fresneda] on the wings, and each one gives their own things to the team, but we created several opportunities and the team are still competitive. I’m especially happy that players are starting to come back so we can be stronger and have more solutions”.