Veloso signals Sporting intent

Sporting Clube de Portugal will be fighting to "save their season" when they welcome Everton to the José Alvalade for the second leg of their UEFA Europa League last-32 tie on Thursday night.

Those were the words of midfielder Miguel Veloso, scorer of the late penalty that gave Carlos Carvalhal's team a potentially vital away goal in their 2-1 defeat at Everton last Tuesday. Veloso told UEFA.com: "The campaign has not been going well for us in the championship, but we will do everything to ensure that it will go well in the Europa League, and also to save this season a bit.

"If the game had stayed 2-0 it would have been more difficult for us, but this way we can compete in the match at the Alvalade, our home, and try to get through to the next round."

Fellow midfielder Pedro Mendes described Veloso's 87th-minute spot-kick as "a massive boost" for a Sporting side who have been down on their luck in recent weeks. The Lisbon team's goalless draw at SC Olhanense on Sunday extended their winless sequence to seven and they have lost five of those games, exiting both domestic cup competitions in the process and slipping fully 20 points behind Portuguese league leaders SL Benfica.

Mendes said: "We know English teams defend very well and Everton have a strong defence so if it was 2-0 we'd need to score three goals which is a difficult task for us. The late goal has put a different perspective on the second leg so it was very important for us.

"The domestic league has not gone the way anybody would have wanted and we are out of the two cups as well, so the Europa League is important for us and we want to go as far as we can. Everton are difficult opponents but hopefully in the next game we can turn this around and win the game and get through."

The former Portsmouth FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC player saw enough at Goodison Park in the first leg to believe Sporting can maintain their record of never having lost a two-legged tie to English opposition. They are unbeaten at home in Europe this term, albeit having drawn four of their five matches.

Mendes said: "We have to play exactly as we played there and we can hopefully score and defend a little better, especially at set-pieces. We created chances, we hit the post [through Marat Izmailov]; I think we played very well."