Chesney Hughes has called on Derbyshire Falcons to take heart from their display in the nailbiting defeat on Sunday as they prepare for their vital Yorkshire Bank 40 clash against Lancashire Lightning at Emirates Old Trafford.
Derbyshire recorded their highest ever List A total against Surrey at the weekend, but they were beaten by three wickets when Tim Linley hit a four from the final ball of the match.
The result leaves them 5.75 points off the top of Group A with four games left to play, and one more defeat is likely to end their hopes of qualification.
But Hughes, who scored 80 of the Falcons’ 294 for nine, was pleased with his side’s showing and is focussed on beating Lancashire, who are two points above them in the table, to get back into contention.
“It’s unfortunate that we lost because I thought we played a lot of good cricket, but the long and short of it is that Surrey played very well,” he said.
“But I thought we played well so we can’t be too down-hearted and now we look forward to (the) game with Lancashire where we hope to get our 40-over campaign back on track.”
Second-placed Hampshire Royals will look to keep the pressure on at the top with a victory over Scottish Saltires, who are still searching for their first win of the campaign.
The Royals are 0.75 points off leaders Durham Dynamos after their win over Essex Eagles, but will be without Sean Ervine for the long trip north after he picked up a slight side injury in Sunday’s 30-run victory.
That victory has left Essex 2.75 points off the leaders, so a defeat against Durham would end their hopes of topping the group and leave them scrapping to finish as best runners-up. Skipper James Foster knows the importance of a win at Chelmsford.
“We probably have to win all three of our remaining games to have a chance of qualifying,” he said.
"Obviously, they are another strong side and we'll need to be at the top of our game but hopefully, we'll be able to play some good cricket and get the result we want.”
The Dynamos will be without Graham Onions, who broke a bone in his finger at the weekend trying to take a reverse catch against Scottish Saltires.
Group A leaders Notts Outlaws can take another step towards the semi-finals as they welcome Worcestershire Royals to Trent Bridge, while Northants Steelbacks and Kent Spitfires battle over second spot.
With both sides likely to have to settle for a best runners-up spot, the game will be of high importance.
Northants will look to recover from their defeat to Notts on Sunday, which put a huge dent in their hopes for finishing top spot and ended their five-match winning run in the competition. Kent will take an unchanged squad from the win against Worcestershire at the weekend.
Sussex Sharks are the other side in the hunt to finish second in the group but to stay in touch they will have to beat the Netherlands, who are fresh from beating Warwickshire Bears at Edgbaston.
In Group C Leicestershire Foxes look to follow up their thrilling victory over Yorkshire Vikings when they travel to Gloucestershire Gladiators. The sides are separated by a point and whoever wins will end they day in second place.
Meanwhile, the bottom two face off at Headingley as Yorkshire welcome the Unicorns.