KOTA KINABALU: The Rhinos are heading deeper into the AFC Cup, and in the Asean zonal semi-finals, they will meet Macarthur in Sydney on Feb 13.
Sabah team manager Joh Wid said the East Malaysian side have done well this season and will restart their training on Jan 10.
"We are confident we will come out top of the situation just like how we did in the group stage.
"I believe in our head coach (Datuk Ong Kim Swee). He'll have something special up his sleeves against the Australian club.
"If we beat Macarthur, the Asean zonal final will be played at the home of the first group, which is Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu on Feb 22.
"We'll take this as extra motivation. We want our fans in Sabah and Malaysia to watch us in the next stage."
Joh said Sabah have retained most of their 2023 squad for next year except for Amri Yahyah (retired), Rizal Ghazali and Irfan Zakaria.
Joh admitted Sabah FC are still facing problems in paying salaries, but said they have an understanding with the players.
"We have a payment schedule, we have plans to overcome this but most of the salaries have been cleared," said Joh.
"We are hoping to settle it fully before we play Macarthur."