KEDAH'S chances of joining a select list of teams to have won a hat-trick of Malaysia Cup titles are receding fast as each day goes by.
Singapore (five times), Selangor (four) and Kuala Lumpur are the only teams to have won the country's most prestigious trophy three years in a row with Selangor the last to achieve the feat from 1995-97.
But Kedah have been so badly hit by injuries that even reaching the knock-out stage from Group E could be a struggle, let alone winning the tournament.
With Kelantan and a resurgent Penang to deal with, what appeared to be an easy group at the onset is no longer the case
The biggest blow to Kedah came when their top scorer, the influential winger Khyril Muhymeen Zambri, tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) while on national Under-23 duty and recently underwent an operation which has ruled him out for the next few months.
Right back V. Thirumurugan (ankle) and striker Fadly Baharum (ankle and knee) are also out of the Malaysia Cup campaign while Samransak Kram is struggling for fitness, having just returned from an ACL injury himself.
All this means coach Azraai Khor Abdullah is woefully short of attacking players with only the inconsistent trio of Azrul Ahmad, Shafiq Jamal and Farizal Rozali at his disposal.
Shafiq and Farizal each scored just once in the Super League -- underlining the difficulty facing Azraai.
"We have been badly hit by injuries with Khyril, Thirumurugan and Fadly out of the Malaysia Cup. Samransak is also just making his way back so we have very few options in attack," said Azraai.
"Farizal did well early on but he's only scored one goal, as has Shafiq, so I had no choice but to bring in a few players from the President's Cup squad."
One such player is Faizal Abu Bakar, with six goals to his name, who is likely to form Kedah's main attack alongside Azrul.
Also likely to be given a run in the side are newcomers Wan Zaim Wan Azizan and Hisyam Shofi.
Still, Kedah are not going to give up without a fight as Azraai said they will battle for as long as they can, having lost the Super League and FA Cup titles already.
"We will try our best of course and our first priority is to get to the quarter-finals. If we win our group we could meet Perlis in the last eight, so to reach the semi-finals will be a bonus," added Azraai.
Kelantan are Kedah's main rivals for group honours and with former national coach B. Sathianathan in charge, they could be looking at emulating their run to the FA Cup final.
But Sathianathan, who took over coaching duties from Peter Butler on Tuesday, will need to get acquainted with his new team fast before tomorrow's opening match against Penang at the City Stadium.
The arrival on loan of Nazrul Erwan Makmur from Felda United has strengthened the defence which Sathinathan has identified as their main weakness.
Up front, Kelantan have an embarrassment of riches in Khalid Jamlus, Indra Putra Mahayuddin, Norfarhan Mohamad and exciting youngster Ailim Fahmi to rely on.
Penang have emerged the darkhorses of Group E with coach S. Veloo bringing six fresh faces into the side from their President's Cup squad.
Having just staved off relegation from the Super League, Penang produced encouraging performances in recent friendly matches to suggest they may have a say in deciding which teams qualify for the next round.
Armed Forces, however, are likely to only be making up the numbers in the group after a dismal Premier League season when they finished 10th.
Coach Shah Norbit is realistic with his expectations, hoping his team will not embarrass themselves.
"This is a team made up entirely of soldiers and we cannot expect much from them. We will give it our best against the Super League teams with our heads held high," he said after a 3-2 defeat to Kuala Lumpur in a recent friendly match.