Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) secretary-general Stuart Ramalingam said national coach Tan Cheng Hoe is expected to list 30 players for the training session, which will be held at Wisma FAM, Kelana Jaya, as he searches for the perfect combination of experienced players and new talent.

He also said that the Harimau Malaya squad will play 97th ranked Bahrain in a friendly match in Manama in early March, before going to Abu Dhabi to face the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the sixth match of the second round qualifiers on March 25.

“At the training session, Tan will try out several new players and consider their suitability with his plans for the rest of the qualifiers next year,” he said after attending the fourth Malaysia Football League (MFL) partnership meeting here today.

The Harimau Malaya squad was supposed to take on the UAE on Oct 8, before meeting Vietnam on November 13, followed by a match against Thailand (November 17) in Bangkok.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the world football governing body, FIFA, however, had to postpone the remaining matches to March 2021 following the Covid-19 pandemic.

After taking on the UAE, the Harimau Malaya squad is scheduled to host Group G leaders, Vietnam at Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Mar 20, before finishing the qualifiers against Thailand on June 15 in Bangkok.

Malaysia is currently second in Group G with nine points after five matches (three wins, two losses).