Nepal’s men’s head coach Matt Ross on Wednesday reduced the size of his initial squad in the closed camp to 27. Ross had called a 30-member initial squad last week as preparation for the fixtures against Singapore and Malaysia.

Nepal is playing an international friendly with Singapore on March 21. The squad will then reach Malaysia for the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers’ first-leg on March 25.

As per the new list made public by the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA), six players were dropped from the initial squad. Goalie Abhishek Baral; defenders Tshering Lama, Anjan Rai, Aashish Gurung and Ashok Khawas; and striker Samir Tamang failed to stay in the closed camp.

Meanwhile, there are three new faces in the squad compared to the initial 30-player list. As per ANFA, Rejin Subba and Shrijan Raj Shrestha, who were in the standby list, have made it to the 27-member squad while they will also be joined by defender Suman Shrestha.