KUALA LUMPUR: Fresh from winning his first national team cap, Selangor wing-back Syahmi Safari hopes to carry on his fine form when his team face Kuala Lumpur in the FA Cup quarter-finals first leg in Cheras on Saturday.
Syahmi, 20, is in his second full season with Selangor after breaking into the senior side last year under then-coach P. Maniam.
With Maniam having been replaced by Nazliazmi Nasir after a poor run in the Super League, Syahmi said he needs to convince the new coach he deserves to maintain his spot in the team.
"I am grateful to the national coaches for giving me a chance to earn my first cap for Malaysia," said Syahmi, who appeared as a substitute in the national team's 7-0 win over Bhutan on Sunday.
"It was an honour to play for the national team and the experience was invaluable.
"I have to maintain my form for Selangor because the next call-up will be based on my club performance. I have to try to maintain my consistency, which is so important, and improve further.
"In every training, I have to give full commitment. Although I know the coach (Nazliazmi) well from my President's Cup days, I still have to prove I deserve a place in the team."
Selangor captain Razman Roslan returns to the side after missing their 3-1 win over Terengganu in the third round through suspension.
Razman cautioned his teammates not to get carried away with their season-opening 2-0 win over KL in the Super League, especially given the goalscoring form of the city team’s striker Zaquan Adha Radzak.
"KL's performance has been improving after beating Kedah and Johor Darul Ta'zim, so we can't take them lightly if we want to gain an advantage for the second leg," said Razman.
"KL are not the same side we played earlier this season. We have to concentrate fully and not allow them to score.
"Zaquan is on fire at the moment so we have to be strong in defence. It's not just him we have to look at and we've got to avoid making mistakes."
Razman said Selangor will continue in the same vein as they were under Maniam.
"There have not been many changes in the team because the coach knows the players well and we've got to prove ourselves on the pitch," he said.