Notts have already reached crunch point in their CB 40 campaign ahead of this evening's home clash with Gloucestershire believes director of cricket Mick Newell.

The green and golds are currently second bottom in the Group C table, having lost three of their four matches, only beating the winless Unicorns.

It puts them well off the pace being set by Somerset, who have won all five of their games, while second-placed Essex have won four and had one no result.

Newell feels Notts' best hope of reaching the knock-out semi finals is to now finish as the best second-placed side of the three groups.

And he is well aware that to have any chance, his troops must get the campaign up and running under the Trent Bridge floodlights (4.10pm start).

"I think Somerset are going to romp away with our group. I think they are the best one-day team in the country and it was a bit of a travesty they did not win one of the one-day trophies last season," said Newell.

"We are a long way behind them in terms of development, but we want to put ourselves back in the picture and we need to win this one to do it.

"We are also keen to get back to winning ways after three bad results out of four for the club.

"It's been a poor couple of weeks and it would be nice to get some form ahead of our next four-day game and the start of t20."

Newell was left frustrated as Notts were edged out by just four runs under the Duckworth/Lewis method in their last outing against Lancashire on Sunday.

He said: "I thought we bowled and fielded pretty well and though we struggled with the bat early on, we got ourselves in a winning position.

"I think Chris Read and Steven Mullaney were pretty disappointed not to get us home from there.

"We have played well in parts of games – we batted really well at Essex for instance – but we are just not putting it all together."

But Newell is pleased with the way some of his young players have been integrated into the team.

"Jake Ball and Sam Wood have done well in particular, as well as Scott Elstone. And a combination of them, if not necessarily all of them, will continue to play." he said.

"Ball and Elstone will certainly be in our t20 squad after we have seen what they can do."

Notts squad: Wessells, Brown, A. Patel, S. Patel, Voges, Mullaney, Read, Franks, Adams, Phillips, Pattinson, Kelsall, Wood, Elstone, Ball.

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