Malaysia national team coach Dollah Salleh is scratching his head trying to solve the issue of a striker crisis ahead of their AFF Suzuki Cup Group B opening game against Myanmar on Nov. 23 at the Jalan Besar stadium in Singapore.
The 2010 champions have Safee Sali, Norshahrul Idlan Talaha, Amri Yahyah, Manaf Mamat, Baddrol Baktiar and Farhan Roslan in Dollah's preliminary 35-men squad but none of the forwards have been firing on all cylinders in the Malaysian Super League and Cup competitions all year.
Johor Darul Takzim FC (JDT)'s Safee and Norshahrul have failed to nail down a starting berth with the Southern Tigers having a total of five goals between them, while Amri is the only one who has managed regular starts with six goals in all competition.
Terengganu's Manaf has had an inconsistent season blighted with injuries while the likes of Baddrol and Farhan are used to playing down the flanks instead of holding the target man position in attack.
Dollah told the New Straits Times that he is worried that his side will find it hard to score goals and wants to address the situation before the first game against Myanmar.
"My main problem is the strike force. Most states and clubs used foreign strikers this season. I do not have many options so I have to gamble by calling up strikers like Safee, who has hardly figured for his club this season," said the former Pahang coach. "I included Safee in my 25-member training squad because he showed great determination in his last call-up. He is trying very hard to regain his form."
Malaysia are currently training at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya and Dollah will be announcing his final 22-men squad after their friendly against Vietnam on Nov. 16 with Pahang FA's in form winger R. Gopinathan on standby if none of the strikers in the preliminary squad are up to scratch.
In another issue involving the Malaysian national team, the ongoing saga about the Sports Hub being used for all Group B matches has finally been resolved.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM)'s general secretary Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin has agreed to withdraw their appeal to the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) to have their games played on natural grass.
Datuk Hamidin said on Wednesday: "After discussing the matter with the Asean Football Confederation (AFF) and FAS on Tuesday, we have decided to withdraw our appeal to play on grass. We accept Jalan Besar Stadium,"
Malaysia will play Myanmar in their opening match on Nov. 23 before taking on Thailand (Nov. 26), with both games scheduled for the Jalan Besar stadium before their final group game against co-hosts Singapore at the newly minted 55,000 seater Sports Hub on Nov. 29.