BARNT Green skipper Andy Sutton insists there's no need to press the panic button despite the fact his side remain anchored at the foot of the Birmingham League Premier Division.

Sutton believes his players will have gained considerable confidence after clinging on to claim a losing draw at Ombersley.

That was after Sutton won the toss and inserted Ombersley to bat first but he admitted: "It was one of the best batting wickets I've seen at Ombersley for a long time."

The wicket clearly proved to the liking of rising Worcestershire prospect Josh Dell as the England under 19 batsman plundered 128 not out.

Dell found plenty of support from Worcester academy player Jack Haynes who added a further 74 as the pair put on 135 for the second wicket.

Sutton added: "We thought we'd got Josh Dell caught behind when he'd only made 10, in fact we were very confident, but the umpire didn't give it."

With former Worcester and Hampshire player Gareth Andrew adding another 44, Ombersley were able to reach an imposing total of 281 for six.

Sutton admitted his side didn't bowl well at times but picked out leg spinner Darrell Williams and Birmingham League debutant off-spinner Dan Meredith for sticking to their task.

In reply, the Green looked it trouble at one stage as they slumped to 31 for three.

But a timely 55 from Warwickshire's Matt Lamb together with welcome contributions from Tom Brown on 31 and Darrell Williams 30 saw the Green hold out to close on 187 for eight.

Sutton stressed: "It was really important that we didn't lose the game. Had we lost, then confidence would have been quite low.

"I spoke with Ombersley skipper Arti Fiaz after the game and he told me they had to dig-in exactly the same as we'd done the previous week when they played Berkswell - and look how it worked for them."

But Sutton is under no illusions about the importance of this Saturday's clash with Wolverhampton, who sit directly above the Green in the league table.

Sutton said: "It's a huge game and will show us exactly where we are."

Once again, Sutton will wait to see whether he has use of his Warwickshire players, Ed Pollock, Josh Poysden, Matt Lamb and Ryan Sidebottom, who is close to recovery from his side-strain and could feature in the bowling attack.