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Kim Swee keeps faith in Kenny


INJURIES and suspensions to the national Under-21 team's defenders mean newcomer Kenny Pallraj will continue to deputise at the back when Malaysia meet Thailand in the Thanh Nien Newspaper Cup semi-finals in Gia Lai, Vietnam today.

Kenny, a midfielder from Perak, was fielded as an emergency centreback in Malaysia's 4-2 win over Sydney FC in a Group B match on Wednesday and did enough to convince coach Ong Kim Swee to retain him for the semi-finals.

It was Malaysia's second win in the Under-21 tournament after also beating Laos by the same score.
With Syazuan Tajuddin, Fandi Othman and Azrif Nasrulhaq Badrul Hisham all unavailable, Kim Swee has been forced to reshuffle his defence with another midfielder, Ariff Farhan Md Isa, also set to fill in at right-back.

Midfielders Ariff and Adam Nor Azlin, both 16, and Kenny all impressed against Sydney though Armed Forces striker Syazuan Hazani struggled to adapt and was replaced at half-time by Ahmad Hazwan Bakri.

"This is the best time to test and analyse the young boys," said Kim Swee who is preparing a squad to defend the Sea Games gold next year.

"Adam really outshone the rest, he did not panic and did not place himself under pressure. Ariff has been in and out of the team but gave a very consistent performance.

"I had no choice but to play Kenny as a centre-back and he did well. I will probably play him against Thailand again because of the injuries and suspensions that we have.

"Syazuan will need to get used to the tempo although he tried hard after suddenly finding himself playing at this level."

Kim Swee is set to restore Hazwan and Irfan Fazail to the first XI against Thailand, who finished second in Group A after going down 2-0 to Vietnam. By Devinder Singh

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