The Singapore national football team left last night for Dubai with 35% of the squad decimated by injuries, according to a report in Today (Tuesday, January 6, 2009).

The injured players are:
Agu Casmir (fever)
Indra Sahdan (viral flu)
John Wilkinson (calf)
Mustafic Fahrudin (ankle)
Mustaqim Manzur (flu)
Noh Alam Shah (hamstring)
Noh Rahman (calf)

The Singapore team is in Dubai for a training camp before their Group E clash against Iran on January 14th in Tehran.

When fit, the foreign-born players make up seven of the first XI. John Wilkinson, Mustafic Fahrudin, Agu Casmir, and Aleksandar Duric are usually in the starting lineup but the loss of Duric and Wilkinson during the ASEAN Football Championship (Suzuki Cup) proved too much and they eventually lost to Vietnam 0-1 in the semi-finals over two legs.

Players like Shahril Ishak, Indra and Ismail Yunos will now have a chance to step into the first XI and make an impression.

Coach Raddy Avramovic told Today: “This is also a chance for the others to make the step up, and show we should count on them."

Let’s see if they can do it.