With just six points separating top from bottom in the NatWest T20 Blast North Group, a run of victories could see any side propel themselves in to quarter-final contention.

Notts Outlaws face Derbyshire Falcons and Northamptonshire Steelbacks in back-to-back matches this weekend looking to bounce back from recent defeats in the shortest format.

And Nottinghamshire Director of Cricket Mick Newell believes the group will be tighter than ever this year as his side aim for a fifth straight quarter-final appearance.

“Last year the team that won the group got 22 points. We came second with 20. I’m not sure it’s going to be that many points this year because there is a lot more of teams beating each other, and it’s all a lot closer,” he said.

“We’ve just got to get as many wins as we can, we’ve got seven games to go and the challenge is to win as many of those as possible.

“It looks as though it’s going to go right down to the last couple of group matches, which are still a month away.

“Our group is very evenly matched, nobody is dominating it, nobody is winning every game.

“That’s the nature of Twenty20, it’s going to be a close run thing all the way through and we are desperately keen to be in the top four.

“We’re not particularly bothered whether that’s first or fourth, we just want to qualify for another quarter-final.”

Standing in the way of a perfect weekend are two other sides struggling early on with Derbyshire rooted to the bottom and Northants just one point further ahead of the Outlaws.

However, Newell believes his side will have to be on top of their game if they are to propel themselves back up the table with two victories.

“It helps us go to Derbyshire with confidence for what is always a big game for both teams; the highlight of the season for both teams in terms of the numbers likely to be at Derby for this game, and at Trent Bridge for the return,” he said.

“We know it’s a very important match, we know our position, we know the conditions and we know the pitch.

“We’ve got to concentrate on doing better things than we have been doing in the last couple of matches and putting together a more complete performance.

“It’s a local derby and in that sense it does have increased importance. We know how important it is for Notts fans to beat Derbyshire, and that they’re also desperate to beat us.

“All we can do is concentrate on playing the best game we can.

“David Willey is one of a number of dangermen for Northants; they’ve got Josh Cobb and Richard Levi on the batting side of it and Azharullah with the ball.

“They’re a decent team in terms of individual players and they’ve got a lot to offer. Willey, likes Alex Hales, has had a very good start to his international summer and therefore has to be seen as a major threat.

“We’ve been away from Trent Bridge in all forms for two or three weeks, we’ve certainly missed playing at home and we’re going into a period, from Saturday, where it’s two weeks of solid home cricket and we’re certainly looking forward to it.

“Hopefully we’ll get a good crowd in on Saturday and, the way we played against Birmingham and Durham, we can do that again.”