RYAN McLaren makes his LV County Championship debut against Durham tomorrow – hoping to fire Hampshire to first division survival by the end of the month

The trip to the north-east is the start of a vital September for Hampshire, even more after four days in which they exited the Royal London One-Day Cup and the Natwest T20 Blast.

Three of Hampshire’s remaining four games are away with further trips to Somerset and Nottinghamshire either side of a visit from champions-elect Yorkshire.

Hampshire are 11 points off Worcestershire and 15 behind Sussex - but with a game in hand on both their nearest rivals.

A win at Taunton from September 9-12 would also drag fourth-from-bottom Somerset into the relegation scrap, as the Cidermen have a difficult game of their own against champions-elect Yorkshire at Headingley from Tuesday.

Next week will have a huge bearing on deciding which two counties go down as Worcestershire and Sussex contest what could be looked back on as a relegation decider at New Road, Worcester.

Hampshire are likely to make two changes to the team that beat Warwickshire for the game at Durham, which will be coach Dale Benkenstein and batsman Will Smith’s first return to the Riverside since joining Hampshire 18 months ago.

The fit-again Sean Ervine is expected to return as well as former South Africa and Kent all-rounder McLaren, who has been signed as the overseas replacement for Jackson Bird.

Ryan Stevenson, another all-rounder, will also travel with the squad, having signed a contract until the end of the season following an impressive two-week trial.

Relegation run-ins:

SOMERSET (12 played/131 points): Yorkshire (a), Hampshire (a), Sussex(h), Warwickshire (h).
SUSSEX (13/122): Worcestershire (a), Somerset (h), Yorkshire (a).
WORCESTERSHIRE (13/118): Sussex (h), Durham (a), Middlesex (h).
HAMPSHIRE (12/107): Durham (a), Somerset (a), Yorkshire (a), Nottinghamshire (a).