WORCESTERSHIRE expect paceman Nantie Hayward to overcome a virus in time to play in tomorrow's Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy final against Gloucestershire at Lord's.

The bug ruled him out of last night's floodlit National League Division One defeat against Essex at Colchester.

"It's a slight virus and we fully expect him to be okay for tomorrow," said New Road chief executive Mark Newton.

Director of cricket Tom Moody has named a 13-strong squad which includes the 10 of the 11 who played yesterday plus Hayward, Andrew Hall and Stephen Peters.

The side will not be finalised until tomorrow morning.

Skipper Ben Smith, meanwhile, is confident his Worcestershire troops will not be overawed by the big-crowd atmosphere tomorrow.

He's convinced the County have enough experienced players in their side to ensure they don't 'freeze' in the club's first one-day Lord's final for nine years.

"It don't think there is any danger of us 'freezing', said Smith.

He added: "We have played in front of some good crowds this season. Those we played in the Twenty20 Cup helped and then there was six or seven thousand for the semi-final against Lancashire.

"I know tomorrow there will be a lot more but our guys have played in front of big crowds before," said the County captain.

Smith is also convinced his players are fully capable of overcoming one-day experts Gloucestershire despite losing to them by four wickets in last Sunday's low-scoring National Lea-gue match at New Road.

He said: "We have all worked very hard over the last few days. I'm sure as individuals we all know what we have got to do. We'll go into it full of confidence.

"As a one-day side we have always felt over the last 18 months that we have been capable of making a final and doing better than we did last year. What does linger a little bit on our backs, though, is the fact we have not played well enough in the National League."

Worcs (from): Solanki, Singh, Hick, Smith, Leatherdale, Hall, Batty, Rhodes, Kabir Ali, Mason, Hayward, Harrity, Peters.