Hampshire director of cricket and caretaker coach Tim Tremlett set his players a target of two wins from their last three championship games after they salvaged just two bonus points from their mauling at the Oval.

Lancashire's seven-wicket win against Sussex at Hove and Somerset's draw against third placed Warwickshire means that Hampshire have dropped a place to third from bottom.

Now only Somerset and Yorkshire, last year's champions and Hampshire's opponents tomorrow, are below Hampshire in the table.

But it could be worse - if Somerset had held one of four dropped catches on Saturday they would have got the win that would have left Hampshire's survival hopes looking even slimmer.

As it is, Tremlett reckons that Hampshire need to win as many games as they have in their last 12 to stay up.

He said: "Our target has always been somewhere around the 150 points mark and we now need two wins to get that."

Hampshire's defeat by an innings and 60 runs was only their second reverse of the season.

Only Surrey and Warwickshire are as hard to beat but Hampshire have drawn more games than any other side in either division.

Tremlett added: "When you only get 190 in the first innings you are always going to struggle.

"Saqlain Mushtaq looked to be quite refreshed after coming back from one-day action with Pakistan but we managed to play more positively against the spin second time round.

"Nic Pothas and Will Kendall both batted well and Dimitri Mascarenhas played positively.

"James Tomlinson and Shaun Udal stuck to their tasks well. It obviously wasn't an easy wicket for James but he only went for three an over."

John Crawley will be available for his first championship game in six weeks but there are still doubts as to the fitness of Adie Aymes (knee) and Alan Mullally (rib).

Mullally was due to discover if he is fit enough to lead the Hampshire attack during a net session earlier today, with Aymes also set to undergo a late fitness test.

With Chris Tremlett out for the rest of the season Tomlinson is almost certain to play his first home game in the championship, following his impressive debut at the Oval. Run-in:

Yorkshire (Rose Bowl, tomorrow), Sussex (Hove, September 5), Surrey (Rose Bowl, September 11

© Daily Echo