KUALA LUMPUR: It's time for the Harimau Malaya newbies to earn their stripes as the team rebuilding starts with the friendly match against Laos at the PAT Stadium in Bangkok tomorrow.

World No 133 Malaysia had lost only once to No.187 Laos in their last 18 encounters, with the shock 1-0 setback at the 1997 Jakarta Sea Games.

Malaysia's superior record could be the reason for national interim coach Pau Marti Vicente to drop seasoned hands and promote several new faces from the Under-23 squad.

Vicente has surprisingly excluded Darren Lok, Corbin La'vere Ong, Endrick Dos Santos, Shahrul Saad and Brendan Gan for new faces Fazrul Amir Zaman, Fergus Tierney and Ubaidullah Shamsul.

The Spanish coach seems to be using the Laos friendly to test out players for the next friendly against No. 125 India on Nov 18 and for the AFF Cup in December.

"It's a good opportunity for us to play in two games with two different approaches. We will use the match against Laos as a preparation for the AFF Cup and against India to prepare for the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers," said Vicente.

Meanwhile centreback Harith Haiqal Adam Afkar, who is aiming for his second international cap, said he is not affected by fans' criticisms, after his debut for Malaysia ended in a 4-0 loss to New Zealand in a friendly last month.

The 22-year-old Selangor player said he is looking forward to learning from playing alongside the vaunted defender, Dion Cools.

"I'm happy to be here with more Under-23 players like Ubaidullah. It's great for us to get this opportunity. We want to show our abilities if given the chance," said Harith.

"I'd be thrilled to partner with Dion. He's a skilful, high-quality player with strong leadership qualities. His presence will give us an edge in this match."

Harith didn't get to play alongside Dion earlier as the latter missed the New Zealand match due to family matters.