Hampshire skipper Robin Smith is adamant that his side can still make the Benson and Hedges Cup quarter finals.

Smith takes his side to Essex tomorrow with a win a must if Hampshire are to have any hope of a top-three finish.

But Smith is still confident that his side can win at Chelmsford and against Middlesex on Monday.

He said: "We can be very confident going to Essex because I believe that we can beat any side in the country.

"We need to make more runs with the bat but if we can win the last two matches we still have a chance to qualify.

"We want to be in a positon where we are playing Middlesex at the Rose Bowl on Monday in front of a packed crowd needing to win to qualify.

"But we have to make sure that we beat Essex first."

Smith added: "It was an incredible game against Sussex. We weren't arrogant going to Hove but we were quietly confident that we could come away with a win.

"James Hamblin and Neil Johnson gave us another great start which gave us a wonderful foundation but none of the other batters saw us through.

"We should have gone on to get at least 230 but we were responsible for getting out to too many bad shots and that was probably because we set our sights too high after that great start."

Will Kendall missed the defeat at Hove with a shoulder injury but is expected to play against Essex.

Neil Johnson is still suffering with a knee injury and that could restrict his ability to bowl at Chelmsford but Smith is once again expected to play through his back pain.