ESSEX coach Paul Grayson has told his team they cannot afford to lose any of their five remaining LV County Championship Division Two matches if they want to gain promotion this summer.

Grayson’s side go into today’s clash with leaders Worcestershire at Colchester’s Castle Point having failed to win either of their previous two four-day matches.

And, with just six weeks of the season remaining, the former England all-rounder knows defeat is no longer an option.

“We have five Championship games to go and realistically we have to win three and get two good draws in the others to stand a chance of being promoted,” said Grayson.

“It’s still within our grasp and if we play well we have a strong chance.

“We are a little bit behind where we wanted to be but we played pretty well in our last game at Warwickshire on a result pitch – there would have been a result but for the weather – so hopefully we can carry that through to our next game.”

Since drawing at Edgbaston on Friday, Essex have lifted the Friends Provident Trophy by beating Kent at Lord’s on Saturday.

And Grayson wants his players to build on that success at Castle Park.

“It’s important we build on our Friends Provident Trophy success with a strong finish to the season in the Championship and in the NatWest Pro40,” he added.

For Essex to beat Worcestershire, however, the county’s mis-firing batsmen must find more consistency.

Despite their one-day successes captain Mark Pettini (average 25.66), Varun Chopra (19.81), Jason Gallian (29.60) and Ryan ten Doeschate (30.71) have all failed to fire regularly with the bat.

So, with Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara away on England duty, it is vital that quartet – along with re-called England Under-19 captain Tom Westley (27.1) score heavily this week if called upon.

Worcestershire, meanwhile, have been boosted by the news Essex target Stephen Moore has signed a new three-year contract with the club.

Opening batsman Moore is one of the leading run-scorers in first-class cricket this summer, having plundered 1,059 championship runs at 55.73.

Captain Vikram Solanki has also been in superb form, hitting 1,086 championship runs at 54.30, but England paceman Simon Jones is out with a knee injury.

Essex: (from) Pettini (capt), Gallian, Chopra, Flower, Foster (wkt), ten Doeschate, Middlebrook, Napier, Masters, Wright, Danish Kaneria, Westley.

Worcestershire: (from) Solanki (capt), Moore, Mitchell, Smith, Hick, Moeen Ali, Davies (wkt), Batty, Andrew, Arif, Kabir Ali.