Azraai was absent through illness from the match against Perak in Ipoh on Tuesday and the defending champions lost 1-0 to extend their losing run to three matches in all competitions.
The defeat was hard to swallow for Azraai, as from the feedback he received, the game was there for their taking.
"From what I have been told, the team played well and only miscommunication between the defenders and the goalkeeper (Helmi Eliza Elias) led to the goal," said Azraai yesterday.
"Now we need to get back on track by beating Perlis and being a northern derby we can expect a fiery match. It is an important clash for both teams as Perlis want to get back on top while we need to close the gap on Selangor."
Kedah, fourth in the standings on 31 points, trail leaders Selangor by nine points with Perlis second, another two points adrift.
The recent poor run has come as a bit of a shock to Kedah players and fans alike.
After picking up just one point from their first four league matches, Kedah went on a splendid run to rise to third in the table and reach the second round of the AFC Cup.
But a 3-1 defeat by Chonburi in their final AFC Cup group match was quickly followed by a loss to Selangor in Shah Alam by the same score before going down to Perak.
"We're on a bad run and it has come as a shock to the players. I met them yesterday (Wednesday) to conduct a post-mortem and they themselves can't believe what has happened, especially against Perak.
"But we have to pick ourselves up and get ready for Perlis," added Azraai, who will again be without winger Baddrol Bakhtiar who missed the Perak defeat through a groin injury.
But Khyril Muhymeen Zambri and Sabre Mat Abu have secured temporary releases from national Under-23 training for the tie which has been brought forward from June 23 to accommodate their AFC Cup second round tie against Vietnam's Binh Duong.
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