GARY Cahill will captain Bolton for the first time in the Jose `Alvalade Stadium tonight.

The former Aston Villa defender is one of the few senior players to have flown to the Portuguese capital.

And in the absence of injured Kevin Nolan, Kevin Davies and Andy O'Brien, Cahill has got the armband.

"It's the first I knew of it," said the ex-England Under-21 star after Gary Megson revealed his decision at last night's final press conference.

"I've never captained a team before and it's a great honour to be skipper of any side.

"I'm going to be really proud leading out Bolton tonight."

Cahill defended Megson's decision to leave behind so many key players.

"We have got a squad where we can afford to rotate players.

"The lads that will come in will do as good a job as the players that aren't here.

"We will have some fresh legs and hopefully that will stand us in good stead."

Sporting boss Paulo Bento believes his team should be too strong for the Lancastrians.

"The scoreline is good, but we have to respect the opposition and take into account if they score first we have to score two goals," he said.

"So we certainly won't play for a goalless draw.

"We will play our own style of football and our own game.

"As for Bolton, I don't think they will play any differently. I believe they will play the same style of football.

"In the first leg Bolton caused us a lot of problems due to the type of football they play, which is typical British football.

"We have to give them credit because they are a physical side and we were unable to play like we had hoped."

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