No pressure on Harimau Malaya this Sunday - Dollah

The absence of captain Shukor Adnan and winger Amri Yahya is not a pressure for Malaysia when facing Vietnam in the first leg semi-final of the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup at Shah Alam Stadium on Sunday.

Coach Dollah Salleh said the duo's absence would not affect the focus of the Harimau Malaya squad to take a comfortable lead to Hanoi for the second leg on Dec 11.

Shukor and Amri will miss the match for collecting two yellow cards. Dollah said the players are in excellent condition and are raring to go against Vietnam.

"All the players did not show any signs of pressure after undergoing training in the last three days," he told a media conference after a meeting with the team manager at Wisma FAM near here, on Friday.

He assured that the players would be going to the pitch to hunt for victory but did not underestimate the capability of Vietnam in launching fast attacks.

Asked on his choice for the captain's post, Dollah said it would be decided on match day and stressed that it was not more important than playing to win the match.

Meanwhile, defender Mohd Muslim Ahmad admitted Vietnam have the advantage in terms of the attack and Malaysia need to build a strong defence line-up.

"The defence is expected to work doubly hard during the entire match as the Vietnamese are capable of scoring even in the final second," he said.