Lee Zii Jia likened his situation to Indian rival Lakshya Sen ahead of their potential men's singles clash when Malaysia take on India in the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships (BAMTC) group stage.

The winner of this tie will almost certainly top Group B and, on paper, secure a favourable draw for the quarter-finals.

With both Lee and Sen most likely be fielded in the men’s singles for the group match on February 16, the former said both of them were in a similar predicament.

“He is not in a confident situation, I can see that [and] it’s the same as me.

“I am looking forward to playing him. We are going with a full team this time, so we have to fight for the best result," he said.

The Malaysian trails Sen on a head-to-head record, only beating him once in three meetings.

Lee’s solitary victory against the Indian came in a team meet last year in the Thomas Cup quarter-finals.

Lee took down Sen in straight games to give Malaysia the lead in that clash, but India recovered to beat the national team 3-2 en route to winning that prestigious trophy for the first time.

The world number four is desperate to find some form after crashing out in the early rounds of three tournaments he’s contested in so far this year.

Meanwhile, Sen struggled so far to produce his best this year, with one quarter-final appearance to show in three events.

Both teams are equipped with their top stars for this team meet, with Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, P. V. Sindhu and Chirag Shetty among the stars banked upon to deliver the points.

Malaysia open their group account against hosts United Arab Emirates on February 14, before playing Kazakhstan the next day.

For those winnable ties, the national team are expected to field shuttlers like Leong Jun Hao, Teoh Mei Xing, Toh Ee Wei and Goh Pei Kee.

The top two teams from each group qualify to the last eight.