DIRECTOR of cricket Steve Rhodes says three wins from the final five matches will put Worcestershire in “a really good position” in the County Championship Division Two promotion battle.

The County look to bounce back from the 10-wicket defeat at Kent against bottom-of-the-table Glamorgan at New Road from tomorrow (11am).

Opener Brett D’Oliveira is expected to return after a dislocated finger.

Rhodes said: “I don’t think generally we were quite switched on at Canterbury. We didn’t play our best cricket.

“We’ve got a young, promising side and they are going to have hiccups along the way and that was one of them.

“If we get three wins out of the next five games, that is going to put us in a really good position. We’d take more.

“It is important to take games one at a time and not get too far ahead of yourself and the Championship is a marathon, not a sprint.

“We need to go into those last stages challenging, which we are, and play well then. It will start off hopefully with having a good game against Glamorgan.”

The County host the current bottom three in Glamorgan, Northamptonshire and Derbyshire as well as visiting leaders Essex and Sussex.

But Rhodes said: “Some of those sides down the bottom are just as difficult to beat as those up the top.

“The important thing for us is getting points and winning the games. We have put Kent to bed. We have addressed some of the issues and areas we want to improve.”

Rhodes said of their leading Championship run-scorer D'Oliveira: “We are very optimistic he will be fit.”

The County must replace paceman Kyle Abbott after his return to international duty with South Africa and left-armer Jack Shantry returns to the squad.

Worcestershire (from): Mitchell, D’Oliveira, Fell, Clarke, Kohler-Cadmore, Whiteley, Cox, Leach, Barnard, Shantry, Morris, Russell.