RYAN ten Doeschate says playing two matches in 24 hours is far from ideal but admits Essex must “get on with it”.

The Essex Eagles captain, inset, was part of the team that played at Hampshire yesterday before travelling to the Colchester Cricket Festival today to take on Middlesex.

Both matches are in the One Day Cup, with Essex needing a return to form over a dip last weekend when they lost back-to-back matches.

And ten Doeschate says Eagles will be in for a tough ride against Middlesex today.

“Playing at Hampshire yesterday and then starting the match with Middlesex less than 24 hours after is not the ideal preparation but we just have to get on with it.

“Middlesex have some serious limited over players who are capable of winning matches and they have already beaten us once this year in the NatWest T20 Blast, so we know that they can be a very effective side.

“We are very conscious of the pressure on us to get to the Quarter-Finals but we are confident we can achieve that. The defeat to Glamorgan last week was hugely disappointing and although I don’t like losing any match, I think we have to acknowledge the performances of James Taylor and Samit Patel who took Notts Outlaws to victory on Sunday.

“This is a really important game against Middlesex. We have played some excellent cricket at times in all formats of the game this season and, hopefully, we can achieve the win on Wednesday to start the festival off on a positive note and help our attempts to get to the next stage of the competition.”

Essex Eagles squad to face Middlesex: ten Doeschate, Pettini, Westley, Bopara, Ryder, Browne, Foster, Velani, Matt Salisbury, Masters, Topley, Porter, Nijjar.