Sporting manager Ruben Amorim has fired back after Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola lamented his defensive absentees for their Champions League round-of-16 second-leg meeting on Wednesday night.
Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker will miss the game through a mix of illness, injury and suspension.
Yet after the English champions eased to a 5-0 win in the first leg last month, Amorim is still expecting to be facing a formidable opponent.
"We are up against a great team," the 37-year-old said at his pre-match press conference in Manchester.
"They are missing players but they have more than enough to put out a great team.
"They only need a few players. There are other players on the bench and looking at them, they could easily be first team-players.
"It will not make it easier. It is a small group but it is a group of huge quality. They are all first-team players. It doesn’t mean anyone can relax."
Amorim has issues of his own with midfielders Pedro Goncalves, Joao Palhinha and Daniel Braganca injured and Matheus Nunes suspended.
That has led to speculation that Sporting’s team could feature teenagers Darius Essugo (16), Rodrigo Ribeiro (16) and Renato Veiga (18) - who have been included in the travelling squad - but Amorim sounded a note of caution.
He said: "Our project is about bringing through youth players, and this has been thought through, but we have to fight for a win.
"They will have the time the game dictates but we will put out the best team available so we can get a good result.
"We have to fight for a win. That is what we are going to try to do, as we usually do."
Sporting, the Portuguese champions, are currently second in the Primeira Liga, six points behind leaders Porto.
