SKIPPER Daryl Mitchell insists Worcestershire must brush aside their promotion disappointment to finish the campaign on a high note.

Their outside hopes of promotion from County Championship Division Two ended with an innings-and-161-run battering at Essex in their last outing.

But Mitchell believes the sixth-placed County can still push for the runners-up spot, starting against third-placed Sussex at Hove in their penultimate match tomorrow (10.30am).

“We have two games left and have to try to win them,” said Mitchell.

“It’s a long winter and we have a date in our diary to review the season as a group towards the end of the year, so we have to put that to one side and focus on the next game.

“We have to try to get as many points as we can and win the game before coming back to Worcester to play Derbyshire in the last game of the season and trying to do the same.

“We have gone down to sixth in the table but Northamptonshire have played a game more than us and only have a couple more points so we could overcome that pretty easily if we win the next two games.

“We think second place is still possible. That’s our simple goal and all we can do now our promotion hopes have gone.”

The County have had a break since their crushing defeat to Essex, who are the favourites to achieve promotion to the top tier.

It has given them plenty of time to reflect on the match that saw them slip to 48-5 on the first morning at Chelmsford after winning the toss and choosing to bat.

“At this stage of the season, you’d rather have kept going than taken a break but it has given us an opportunity to practise,” said Mitchell.

“We were disappointed with the way we batted at Essex, particularly in the first innings. We won the toss on a really good pitch and didn’t get enough runs.

“There were some pretty soft dismissals and it set the tone for the game, then it was difficult to drag ourselves back into it. Essex batted very well and got a big score.”

After the County were dismissed for 230 in their first innings, Essex piled up 601-5 declared.

The visitors also struggled in their second innings, making only 210.

“We could have bowled better and didn’t use the new ball well on the first evening,” said Mitchell.

“But it was our batting that let us down and cost us the game. I think our dip has been down to inconsistency with the bat.

“We did very well at the start of the season and got maximum batting points for the opening five games.

“In the second half of the season we have had some very good chases, knocking off around 370 to win against Leicestershire and 400 to beat Northamptonshire, so we have got our runs at times.

“Unfortunately, we have been too inconsistent with the bat in three out of the last four games and have not put big scores on the board in the first innings.”