Grass and not artificial turf is the preference of Malaysian super coach Ong Kim Swee as Harimau Muda A rejoin the Singapore S.League for the 2015 season.
Malaysia's first string youngsters will take over from Harimau Muda B who were the nation's representatives in the competition for the past two years.
It will be the second foray into Singapore for Ong's side who finished fourth in 2012. And he wants to return to the grass of Yishun stadium, near the Malaysia border, instead of playing on the plastic pitch at Jalan Besar, close to the centre of the city.
As well not being their preferred surface, the location of Jalan Besar stadium has proved to be a logistical inconvenience to players and team officials, adding an extra 30 minutes each way to the journey from the Causeway.
"It will be too tiring to travel from one venue to another if we play our matches in Johor Baru," Ong told the New Straits Times. "I hope FAS can propose a venue. In 2012, we played at Yishun Stadium."
Football Association of Malaysia's general-secretary Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin reiterated his coach's desire to have their matches played on natural grass.
Another potential concern for the Young Tigers is the failure to tie down their best young players to new contracts.
Several players have been left with one year deals and could be tempted by big money offers from Malaysia's domestic state teams.
Gary Steven Robbat, who is in Dollah Salleh's AFF Suzuki Cup squad, is wanted by Malaysia Cup champions Pahang FA. He says that he will make a decision whether to join Zainal Abidin's team after the ASEAN tournament.
Other players like D. Saarvindran, Fandi Othman, Amer Saidin, Ferris Danial Mat Nasir, Azrif Nasrulhaq Badrul Hisham and Saiful Ridzuwan Selamat are also set to leave the team in the coming weeks.