PETALING JAYA, Dec 1 — The national squad will be without two of Kuala Lumpur (KL) City FC’s main players in their AFF Cup campaign which begins on December 5, due to injuries, says head coach Tan Cheng Hoe.

He said Muhammad Akram Mahinan and D. Kenny Pallraj who helped the City Boys lift the Malaysia Cup last night had suffered serious injuries in the final at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, and would take some time to recover.

“Akram suffered a groin muscle tear and Kenny had a ligament tear in his knee, according to the doctor, it takes a long time to recover (from these injuries). So we have to forget about their services.

“At this moment, we are not calling other players to replace them, but are concentrating on the existing players. We expect the other players to be mentally and physically ready to go through the campaign this time,” he told reporters during the national team’s training session at the PKNS Sports Complex here, today.

Cheng Hoe, who previously lost striker Darren Lok to an abdominal muscle injury, is now hoping for players such as Baddrol Bakhtiar, Muhammad Syafiq Ahmad, Junior Eldstal and Muhammad Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi to shoulder the responsibility in midfield.

Meanwhile, Cheng Hoe said naturalised player Mohamadou Sumareh who had a personal issue and Baddrol who lost his brother Rozaimi yesterday, were given a day or two off, and hoped they could return soon.

He said the target of reaching the AFF Cup final was a big challenge and hoped that his men were up for it.

“We want to see the team do better than the previous edition (of finishing as runners-up). We hope that when we arrive in Singapore, everyone will be ready with a high level of confidence to face the AFF Cup challenge,” he said.

Meanwhile, 24-year-old winger Safawi Rasid who reported to the central training camp is hoping to get back on track at the AFF Cup tournament, after some underwhelming performance this year.

Safawi, who played a major role in helping Malaysia advance to the finals of the 2018 edition, is also optimistic that the squad this time which is lined up with both experienced and naturalised players, will be able to achieve better results.

The last time Malaysia won the AFF Cup was in 2010.

They will begin their Group B campaign against Cambodia on December 6, followed by Laos (December 9), Vietnam (December 12) and Indonesia (December 19). — Bernama