Jones pleased with Owls progress
Dave Jones was pleased with the progress of his players following the friendly encounter with Sporting Lisbon on Sunday evening at the Municipal Stadium in Albufeira.
The Owls went down 2-0 to the Portugese giants but Jones took little from the scoreline, as he insisted would be the case before the game, irrespective of the winners.
The game was always about increasing the fitness levels and Jones was satisfied to that end.
He said: “The result of this game was never going to be important. The boys needed a game and got one, which will do them the world of good in terms of their fitness.
“But listen, Sporting Lisbon are a very good side and every bit as good as we thought they would be.
“They play in Europe almost every season and I think that showed. But as I say, the bottom line for me is fitness and we are only running at around 70 to 75 per cent.
“To be honest, I wouldn’t want to be at 100 per cent right now – I am happy where we are at this stage of our pre-season.
“I have never won points or lost points in pre-season. Everything we are doing now is aimed towards Derby when our Championship season starts because that is when points are at stake.”