Martijn Drijver, the goalkeeping specialist coach arrived yesterday afternoon and had his first session with the keepers this morning. He will be here until the 16th February.
Drijiver was also responsible for coaching the keepers in Holland prior to the Champions Challenge in Argentina last November and also joined the national squad in Argentina.
Meanwhile Chua Boon Huat will have to give the Chinese New Year a miss after he was named in the squad of 21 players that will take on Ireland at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
While Hafifihafiz Hanafi, Izwan Firdaus and Nabil Fiqri Mohd Nor were left out due to injuries, Baljit Singh was left out as he is on his honeymoon after tying the knot last weekend.
Keeper S. Kumar and striker Faisal Saari are playing in the Hockey India League hence their omission.
Those left out of the team are M.Jiwa, Mohd Noor Faeez Ibrahim, Mohd Syamim Yusof and Mohd Sallehin Ghani.
" The coaches want to give some players who did not feature in Argentina and Doha an opportunity and all players have to be given a chance to prove their worth," said team manager George Koshy.
" We will name 18 players for each match and there is also the two matches against New Zealand before the coach decides on his line up for the Azlan Shah Cup next month."
The Squad for the Irish Test Matches
Amir Farid, Azlan Misron, Chua Boon Huat, Faiz Helmi, Ismail Abu, Jivan Mohan, Kairulnizam Ibrahim (gk), Hazrul Faiz, Sukri Mutalib, Izad Hakimi, Fitri Saari, Shahrun Nabil (capt), Amin Rahim, Azammi Adabi, Ramadan Rosli, Amerullah Aziz, Marhan Jalil, Razie Rahim, Norhizzat Sumantri, Roslan Jamaluddin (gk), Tengku Ahmad Tajudin
