The delayed start to the 2020 Malaysia Cup is proving to be a silver lining for Pahang and Faisal Halim in particular.
The 2020 Malaysia Super League season has not been one to remember for Pahang as they only managed to finished 7th after losing in their final fixture away to Terengganu FC (TFC) which sealed their place in the mid-table.
It was a massive fall for the Elephants who had only just finished runner-up one season before but the departures of first Matthew Davies and then Mohamadou Sumareh put paid to their hopes of challenging for a higher finish.
But the biggest barrier for Dollah Salleh and his side to overcome was the injury troubles that kept hitting them with key players like Dickson Nwakaeme, Ivan Carlos and Faisal Halim struggling to maintain their fitness fight.
Because of the rise of Covid-19 numbers again in Malaysia, the Malaysia Cup has been moved from a 16 October start to 6 November, which gives plenty of encouragement to Faisal and co.
"I'm 80% recovered now and I believe that in a week's time, I will be able to play on the pitch again so the focus right now is to get completely fit. But it's not just me, there are several others who are working to get fit for the Malaysia Cup.
"We understand that why the matches are delayed. There's a lot to learn from this year because by middle of November, there's usually no more matches. This year will be different and we as players have to adjust to that," said Faisal.
The nippy winger is recovering from an ankle injury which he sustained in that 2-1 defeat at the hands of TFC after seemingly taking on the mantle left behind by Sumareh.
The 22-year-old scored twice in the final seven matches of the Super League season that was played out five months after the initial first three matches was played including in the 3-2 defeat at the hands of Johor Darul Ta'zim.
He is fighting to get fit for the start of the final competition of the year together with Adam Reed, Zuhair Aizat, Nwakaeme, Herold Goulon and R. Dinesh.