Malaysia national team coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee believes his one-month training stint with English Championship side Queens Park Rangers will serve him well ahead of the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers.
Ong and assistant coach Brad Maloney will head to England from Feb. 7 to Mar. 8 for coaching and training exposure, under the tutelage of QPR manager Ian Holloway and his coaching staff.
The stint came as a result of the partnership between the Football Association Malaysia (FAM), QPR and airline company AirAsia.
"This is a great opportunity for my coaching career, and I hope to use what I've learnt with the national team," said Ong at a media conference on Friday.
"This stint will give me a chance to see for myself, how a high level club is managed on a day-to-day basis. There are plenty of learning opportunities throughout the month."
In Ong's absence, his coaching team will take over scouting duties in the Malaysia Super League before the national team's centralised training from Mar. 19.
Malaysia will fce North Korea, Lebanon and Hong Kong in Group B of the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers.
They are scheduled to take on the Koreans in the first game on Mar. 28.
Before that, the national team will have a friendly against either Philippines, or a Chinese club in Beijing, on Mar. 22.
Malaysia are desperate to achieve some international success in 2017, following an abysmal 2016 which saw them win only five of their 15 matches.
They also crashed out in the group stage of the 2016 AFF Suzuki Cup for only the third time in their history last November.
After the trip to North Korea, Malaysia will host Lebanon on Jun. 13, followed by Hong Kong on Sept. 5.
They then travel to play Hong Kong on Oct. 10 before ending the year with a home game against North Korea on Nov. 14.