Matthew Davies welcomed the decision to postpone Malaysia's AFC Asian Cup qualifier against North Korea on March 28 in Pyongyang, following strained diplomatic ties between both governments following the death of Kim Jong-Nam.
"It is the right decision, given the speculation surrounding the game," Matthew told ESPN FC. "The focus may not be on the football and there are bigger issues at play. It'll be good to let it cool off and we can just focus on the Philippines game."
The Pahang skipper and 15 other teammates turned up at the Football Association of Malaysia headquarters for centralised training ahead of their friendly against the Azkals in Manila on March 22.
Malaysia will only be concerned on racking up ranking points by winning that game, as they do not play a qualifier six days later. This came after the Asian Football Confederation decided to postpone Malaysia's Group B opener due to "escalating tensions" between both governments.
The Asian body are expected to address the matter again on Wednesday, and give a new date for the game.
The death of Jong-Nam, the half-brother of North Korea leader Kim Jong-Il at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on Feb. 13 led to the row between both governments, who couldn't see eye to eye over investigation proceedings.
Malaysia assistant coach Brad Maloney oversaw coaching duties from Datuk Ong Kim Swee on Monday, with the national coach slated to return on Tuesday.
Maloney said the first day gathering was just to assess the condition of his players.
"We are just taking a look and some players who have knocks and bruises, and finding out the general feel of things," he said. "We don't want to overdo things on the first day, as the group has just gathered together."
The Australian and Ong had just returned from a month-long stint with English club Queens Park Rangers after a partnership between the FAM and airline company AirAsia.
The duo joined QPR boss Ian Holloway and his team in training sessions and even in team meetings as part of the stint.
Maloney said that the learning curve was an eye opener in terms of sports science and sports analysis.
"The fundamentals are pretty much the same, but with different variations. The biggest difference is the support staff, sports science and sports analysis, but we are already beginning to do that over here. But It was a good experience overall," Maloney said.
Felda United duo Farizal Harun and Hadin Azman, as well as Johor Darul Ta'zim's Ahmad Hazwan Bakri and Fadhli Shas will join the team on Wednesday after their AFC Cup commitments.