BY ZULHILMI ZAINAL Follow on Twitter
Malaysia's friendly match opponents on Tuesday, Kyrgyz Republic, may feature one player who has spent half a season with Kelantan in Malaysia, Bakhtiyar Duyshobekov.
But when asked by Goal, the Central Asian side head coach Aleksandr Krestinin responded by saying that they will do just fine even without relying on the scouting information provided by the midfielder.
Speaking in the pre-match press conference on Monday, Krestinin remarked that his team have been in Malaysia for almost a week, preparing for the encounter.
"We are taking the match very seriously, as Malaysia have recorded several big wins recently. Every game is important for us, as we are preparing for the AFC Asian Cup next year. We have to sort out a few things before the tournament, and Tuesday's match is important for this reason.
"The team have been here for about a week and our adaptation process has taken place very well.
"We get our information on Malaysia from many sources, and Bakhtiyar is not very important in respect of this. We have utilised several statistical softwares to learn about Malaysia players instead to prepare for the match," he explained through an interpreter.
Commenting on Malaysia, the Russian said that although no particular player stands out, the hosts are fast when attacking.
"From the information we have, we can't say much about the individual Malaysia players, but what deserves to be highlighted is the attack.
"They're fast and good technically," said Krestinin.
The match will be held at the Hang Jebat Stadium, Melaka, and will kick off at 8.45 pm Malaysian time.
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