'We owe it to ourselves and the coaches to put in a fine performance in Trophy tie'

RORY Haydon has been on both sides of the boundary for Staffordshire this season - and he knows which one he prefers.

- Chris Travers

The Leek seamer played in Staffs’ opening NCCA Knockout Trophy game against Herefordshire, which resulted in a victory.

But he has sat out the next couple of Group Two encounters which ended in defeats by Suffolk and Shropshire to manage his workload.

Haydon has been playing for Derbyshire 2nd XI, so balancing his commitments has been at the forefront of his mind.

However, the 22-year-old is back in the Staffordshire team for this weekend's final group game against Norfolk at Sprowston.

That's a timely boost for Staffs who face an uphill task to avoid being eliminated from the group stages for the third successive season.

Staffordshire need to beat Norfolk and hope Shropshire, who have already qualified, can defeat Suffolk.

Even then, there would need to be a huge shift in run rate in order for Staffordshire to take second place and advance to the knockout stages.

"It's a weird one, I've been at all the games. I played the first one and it’s great to be back in the group having missed the end of last year," said Haydon.

"It's different watching from the sidelines. I just want to be out there and making a contribution.

"It's difficult because you always feel as though you want to get hold of the ball, but being on the sidelines means you can't influence things.

"We know results have to go our way. There's still a chance of going through. After the last two matches we want to get back to winning ways and show that we can do it in this competition. We have to believe we can do it."