Negri Sembilan captain Zaquan Adha Abd Radzak (second from right) tussles with national Under-23 player Azrin Afiq Rusmini in a friendly match on Tuesday. PIC BY OWEE AH CHUN
Negri Sembilan captain Zaquan Adha Abd Radzak (second from right) tussles with national Under-23 player Azrin Afiq Rusmini in a friendly match on Tuesday. PIC BY OWEE AH CHUN

BRAD Maloney has two more friendlies to get his boys firing on all cylinders for the Asian Under-23 qualifiers in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Oct 25-31.

In a friendly on Tuesday, the national Under-23 team lost 2-1 to Premier League champions Negri Sembilan at the Subang Jaya City Council Stadium.

Maloney wants the team to work on improving their play in the friendlies against Super League clubs Penang tomorrow and Kedah on Monday.

Against Negri, the national youth side created several good chances in the first half, and one of them resulted in Azhad Harraz Azman beating goalkeeper Damien Lim in the 11th minute.

However, the Deer bounced back in the second half with Alain Akono's equaliser in the 45th and R. Barathkumar's winner in the 81st minute.

Maloney said he was pleased that his team learned a lot from the match.

"This group of players were just recently assembled, and we were expecting a tough fight from Negri who are the Premier League champions.

"There's a lot of positives to take from this match," he added.

Malaysia will meet Laos on Oct 25, Mongolia (Oct 28) and Thailand (Oct 31) in the Asian Under-23 qualifiers.