Kedah are expected to have the services of import players Ken Ilso and Zach Anderson for their second Malaysia Cup match against UiTM FC on Friday night, as they aim to build on their good start in Group C.
The defending champions kicked off their campaign with a 2-0 victory over Melaka United on Tuesday to sit joint top with Kelantan who beat UiTM 3-1.
Kedah coach Nidzam Adzha has asked the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) for leeway for his five players selected in Datuk Ong Kim Swee's Under-22 squad for this month's 2018 U23 qualifiers in Bangkok.
"We need these players for our match against Melaka United on July 11, so are we asking them until then to let our players prepare for that game," Nidzam told Kosmo!
Syafiq Ahmad, Farhan Roslan, Ifwat Akmal, Ariff Farhan and Amirul Hisyam Awang Kechik were scheduled to report for the national development team get together on Wednesday.
Ong was forced to call off the first day training after only six of his 26-man squad showed up at FAM headquarters in Kelana Jaya.
Despite Kedah's win over Melaka after goals by Sandro Da Silva and Baddrol Bakhtiar, Nidzam wasn't happy with the overall performance of the team.
"We are still making errors in defence, and we were lucky not to be punished by Melaka United. We cannot take things lightly despite scoring goals, as any team can punish us with the way we have been defending," he said.
"We will continue working on this area against Uitm."
Meanwhile, Kelantan coach Zahasmi Ismail warned his players about complacency ahead of their match against Melaka at Hang Jebat Stadium on Saturday.
"The victory against UiTM was pivotal for us to set a good run in the Malaysia Cup. Kedah may seem group favourites, but this is a Cup competition and anything can happen," Zahasmi said.
"We just have to keep up the momentum and play for another win against Melaka."