National youth coach Brad Maloney hopes midfielder Nik Akif Syahiran Nik Mat will be in the right frame of mind for the AFC Under-23 qualifiers in Mongolia on Oct 25-31.
Nik Akif's father Nik Mat Yusof died yesterday, and the 22-year-old was released to attend the funeral.
The 23-member squad will leave for Ulaanbaatar today.
"We were having our morning meeting when we heard about the sad news.
"However, I believe Nik Akif will be stronger and will have no problems during the qualifiers," said Maloney.
Maloney's final squad also included four Harimau Malaya players — Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi, Hakimi Abdullah, Quentin Cheng and Luqman Hakim Shamsudin.
Among others included were Terengganu FC II's Nur Azfar Fikri Azhar, Selangor FC II's Harith Haiqal Adam Afkar and SGV Freiberg's Annil Vigneswaran.
Maloney finalised his squad yesterday after evaluating his trainees' performances during three friendly matches — Negri Sembilan (lost 1-2), Penang (won 2-1) and Kedah (won 2-0).
"The friendlies were held at MBSJ Stadium to familiarise ourselves playing on an artificial pitch similar to the one in Ulaanbaatar," he added.
Malaysia will open their Group J campaign against Laos on Oct 25 before taking on Mongolia (Oct 28) and Thailand (Oct 31).
THE SQUAD
Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi, Sikh Izhan Nazrel Sikh Azman, Ahmad Zikri Mohd Khalili, Azrin Afiq Rusmini, Faiz Amer Runnizar, Fahmi Daniel Zaaim, T. Saravanan, Harith Haiqal Adam Afkar, Syed Nasrulhaq Syed Bidin, Hakimi Abdullah, Nik Akif Syahiran Nik Mat, Azam Azmi Murad, Syafik Ismail, Hairiey Hakim Mamat, Nur Azfar Fikri Azhar, Umar Hakeem Suhar Rezwan, Shafi Azswad Sapari, Aiman Afif Afizul, Azri Ab Ghani, Quentin Cheng, Azhad Harraz Arman, Luqman Hakim Shamsudin, V. Annil.
