There's plenty of good news for Kelantan head coach M. Karathu.
For starters, star striker Norshahrul Idlan Talaha is recovering well from a hamstring injury which means, the coach now has two additional forwards to make use of in the coming Malaysia Cup campaign.
Karathu said the on-loan signings from Pahang -- Azammuddin Mohd Akil and R. Surendran -- will not just be making up numbers in Kelantan's attack.
"Initially, we were worried Norshahrul would not recover in time but it looks like we are going to have him back sooner rather than later after having him back in training earlier this week.
"That is great news for the team but Azammuddin and Surendran still have a job to do as winger Mohd Izuan Rosli is away with the Olympic squad and will not be involved in the Malaysia Cup for us," said Karathu.
The coach said first choice goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat, who is also with the Olympic squad, will be sorely missed in the Malaysia Cup.
"There is no other goalkeeper like Khairul out there so we did not even bother to look for a suitable replacement. Besides, we already have Mohd Sharizan Ismail who is just as good as Khairul. We hope he will stay fit and healthy throughout the competition," added the coach,
Karathu said it was difficult securing the on-loan services of Azammudin and Surendran as they were on the shopping list of quite a number of teams.
"We know of one or two teams who must be disappointed when Azammudin and Surendran signed with us but we do hold a slight advantage over the other teams.
"After all, we are the current Super League champions and the Malaysia Cup defending champions and if things go as planned, we hope to go far again in this competition," said Karathu, who confirmed that Kelantan will play several friendly matches before the start of the Malaysia Cup on Sept 6 when they travel to Sarawak for a Group C match.
"We have talked to a few teams and thus far and T-Team, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor have agreed to play warm-up matches against us.
"We are doing everything necessary to prepare for the competition as we know the other teams are doing the same including our Group C rivals Felda United and Johore FC."
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