The preliminary squad for Nepal's national men's football team, set to play against Singapore and Malaysia, has been trimmed down to 27 players. Head coach Matt Ross has excluded five players from the original 30-player call-up.

Nepal will first face Singapore in an international friendly on March 21, followed by a match against Malaysia in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers on March 25.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Kiran Kumar Limbu, Bishal Sunar, Deep Karki, Anjal Shrestha

Defenders: Ananta Tamang, Rohit Chand, Bimal Panday, Sanish Shrestha, Randip Poudel, Sumit Shrestha, Abhishek Limbu, Suman Shrestha

Midfielders: Laken Limbu, Rohan Karki, Mani Lama, Bharat Khawas, Arik Bista, Manish Dangi, Ayush Ghalan, Kritish Ratna Chhunju

Forwards: Gillespye Jung Karki, Anjan Bista, Dinesh Henjan, Subash Thakuri Bam, Nirajan Dhami, Rejin Subba, Srijan Raj Gautam

(Note: Rejin Subba, Suman Shrestha, and Srijan Raj Gautam were placed on the standby list.)