KEDAH MIDFIELDER TIRED TO PLAY IN INDIA FRIENDLY

GEORGE TOWN: Midfielder Mohd Khyril Muhymeen did not travel with the Malaysian senior football team to Hyderabad for a friendly international today against India.
The 21-year-old Kedah player cited fatigue in his request to be released from the squad. He was with the national Under-23 squad who lost 0-4 to the Chinese Olympic side in Yanbin last week.
Good news for Kedah: The availability of Mohd Khyril Muhymeen has boosted the Carnaries' chances of making the quarter-finals tomorrow night.
And Kedah, who are chasing for a second consecutive treble after having retained the Super League and FA Cup titles, welcomed the news of the midfielder’s early release from national duty.
Coach Mohd Azraai Khor said yesterday that the return of Khyril and another attacking midfielder, Badrol Bakhtiar, who went on national Under-23 duty, could not have come at a better time.
The Canaries will clinch a place in the Malaysia Cup quarter-finals with a win over Penang at the Darulaman Stadium in Alor Star tomorrow night.
“I was resigned to not having Khyril’s services for the match against Penang. His successful request to miss the trip to India is a pleasant surprise for Kedah. With Khyril and Badrol back in the team, we can field our strongest attacking line-up against Penang,” said Azraai.
“We want to check into the quarter-finals and it is important that the team take Penang seriously even though they are going through a difficult period.”
Khyril netted the goal in Kedah’s 1-0 win over Penang in the first-round match in Batu Kawan last month.
Kedah also received good news yesterday when experienced defenders A. Victor and Ronny Harun resumed training after recovering from injury and they were both declared fit to face the Panthers.
But the Canaries still have to make do without goalkeeper Mohd Helmi Eliza and leftback Shafizan Hashim, who are with the national senior squad.
Kedah are in third spot in Group B on 15 points and they are in a three-way battle with leaders Johor FC (17) and Police (15) to get into the quarter-finals.
All three teams have two more group matches to play and they will advance if they can reach the 18-point mark.
The top two teams in the three-group preliminaries qualify for the quarter-finals and they will be joined by the two best third-placed teams.