KUALA LUMPUR: Defender Faiz Helmi Jali and forward Syafiq Sumantri have recovered from injuries, and are back in the national hockey training squad.
But national coach Arul Selvaraj will assess the fitness of the duo before naming the final team for the six-nation Sultan Azlan Shah (SAS) Cup which begins on Nov 1 in Ipoh.
Arul said he needs the services of Faiz and Syafiq as they are key players whose presence will beef up the team's defence and frontline. Faiz had recovered from ankle injury and Syafiq from an adductor injury.
Arul said captain Marhan Jalil and striker Shahril Saabah would not feature in the SAS Cup as they are still nursing foot and meniscus injuries respectively.
Defender and penalty corner drag flicker Razie Rahim, with close to 300 international caps, is most likely to wear the skipper's armband.
Six players will be dropped from the 24-member training squad when the final squad of 18 are named on Saturday.
Malaysia open their campaign against Asian champions South Korea on Nov 1. Their other matches are against Pakistan (Nov 2), South Africa (Nov 4), Egypt (Nov 5) and Japan (Nov 7).
Arul said world No 10 Malaysia, who are the highest ranked team in the tournament, should win the SAS tournament.
Malaysia have never won the SAS Cup since it was inaugurated in Kuala Lumpur in 1983. They were runners-up in 1985, 2007, 2209, 2013 and 2014.