"I’m a believer." Hopeful words from the press conference on the eve of the clash between KV Mechelen and RSC Anderlecht. Not from Neil Diamond, but from Vítor Bruno, head coach of the Mauves and, above all, a man who leads with his emotions. Sweet Vítor. "I’m an emotional person and I like talking to my players and understanding them. Sometimes it’s the small details that make the difference on the pitch."

Against KRC Genk, Vítor Bruno made several changes to his starting eleven, including handing new signing Koutsoupias an immediate start. Whether more new arrivals will feature in the starting eleven against KV Mechelen remains to be seen. "I can certainly understand the fans’ curiosity about new players like Amane and Asgaard, but certain things simply don’t happen in a snap of fingers. To put it into perspective: Bentayeb has trained with the group eleven times, while Reabciuk, Amane, Asgaard, Koutsoupias and Omobamidele have each trained five times. Winkler arrived a little earlier and has already trained sixteen times with the group. It takes time to fully integrate them into our playing system."

The Mauves have scored three goals in five league games. However, the Portuguese coach looks at his team’s attacking play from a different perspective. "We work on our attacking patterns every day. If you look at the bigger picture, you can see that we scored freely in the European qualifiers. Three goals at home against Hammarby and PAOK. Three in Kairat and three at home against Kairat. Missing chances is human. I would only really be worried if we weren’t creating chances."

In recent league games, Sporting has created opportunities, but has often lacked the efficiency needed to claim more points. At times, they have also come up against outstanding performances from the opposition goalkeeper. "Against SK Beveren, everyone agreed that their goalkeeper was the Man of the Match. We could certainly have scored three times and should have taken at least a point. Against Genk, Lucca Brughmans was the best player on the pitch." The young Belgian, who will join Liverpool for around €35 million next summer, kept the score at 0-0 with several outstanding saves.

After taking seven points from their opening 15 in the league, Sporting now need to pick up points away at KV Mechelen on Friday evening. The Portuguese coach knows that. "We should already have more points, but I continue to believe in the process and in the way we work every day. Of course, we are going to Mechelen to win, everyone can be sure of that. As always, we want to impose our game on the opposition. That may sound like a romantic vision, because when you look at the points, you can indeed see that we have 7 from 15. The players are aware of that and they are hungry to win. And that starts with the next game."

All eyes on Achter de Kazerne on Friday at 20:45 for KV Mechelen - RSCA.