KULA LUMPUR: It is the wrong time for Sabah to push for a place in the top bracket of the Super League.
That is because the pre-World Cup is more important, and the Rhinos won't have their key players for the match against Kelantan tomorrow.
Sabah stars Stuart Wilkin, Darren Lok and Dominic Tan are away in Taipei with the national team for the World Cup qualifier against Taiwan on Tuesday.
And Saddil Ramdani is away on pre-World Cup duty with the Indonesia national team.
Coach Ong Kim Swee said it would be tough for Sabah in their remaining four league matches as all their key players will be tired from national duty.
"We're at a crucial phase now. It won't be easy to manage four games (Super League and AFC Cup) in two weeks, and we have to play without our key players," lamented Kim Swee.
The Sabah-Kelantan match was originally scheduled for Sept 29 but it was postponed due to heavy rain.
Both teams will meet at the UiTM Stadium in Shah Alam today. The change of venue is because the Sultan Muhd IV Stadium in Kota Baru is unavailable due to another event.