YORKSHIRE are targeting a top three finish in the Specsavers County Championship.

White Rose coach Andrew Gale insists his squad are only looking up the Division One table with six games remaining, starting against bottom side Worcestershire at Scarborough on Sunday.

They have four at home and two away and sit fifth on 87 points with three wins from eight.

That leaves them 23 behind third-placed Nottinghamshire with a game in hand and them still to play at Trent Bridge next month.

They are a further nine points behind second-placed Somerset on level games with them also to play at Emerald Headingley.

Runaway leaders Surrey are out of sight. While Gale and his troops are taking the glass half full approach, there will no doubt be some Yorkshire supporters looking the other way.

They are 15 points clear of second-bottom Hampshire, although Lancashire are sandwiched in between, and the Red Rose are in serious danger having played nine.

“We haven't even thought about relegation,” said coach Gale, who will hand David Willey the captaincy in his first appearance of the season as Steve Patterson is injured.

“We won our last Championship game (against Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford last month).

“We feel we have lads in a good place and in good form. We’ve already spoken midweek about how we want to play our Championship cricket for the rest of the year.

“We’ve set ourselves the target of finishing in the top three. We think that’s realistic.

“Ultimately, we’ll only do that if we perform the way we can do and stick to our processes.”

Yorkshire have won matches against Nottinghamshire at Emerald Headingley and Essex and Lancashire away.

Gale continued: “I think we’ve bowled well this season, and I feel our batting’s going in the right direction.

“We’ve nowhere near reached our full potential, but we’ve taken 20 wickets, which is what you need to do. I feel the batters are turning the corner.”

Gale has injuries and unavailability to contend with.

From the team that last played against Lancashire, they will be without Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root due to England Test commitments, while captain Patterson has a broken finger and fellow seamer Ben Coad a side injury.

Liam Plunkett is not fit enough to play four-day cricket after a recent hip problem.

That means Willey and fellow seamer Matthew Fisher are set for their first Championship appearances of 2018.

“It’s not been a straightforward season with injuries and call-ups. We seem to have had everything thrown at us,” said Gale.

“You’ve had Kane (Williamson) out there with a fractured finger. The lads who’ve come in have done a job.

“We’ll get a decent 11 out on Sunday who’ll be well up for it.

“Kane has passed a fitness test. He’s not 100 per cent, but he believes he can still play despite having a little fracture on the end of his left ring finger.”

Gale will also select new signing Josh Poysden, the leg-spinner who has signed a three-year contract from Warwickshire from next season.

He initially joins on loan and played against Lancashire last month.

Gale added: “I think Josh is going to be a great asset. In the spin bowling department we’ve struggled a bit this year in red ball cricket.

“Josh has got good pedigree, although he hasn’t had the exposure he’d want. But all the signs are there for him to be a fantastic leg-spinner.

“He just needs to play some cricket, and we can offer that.

“He bowls some magic balls. That’s what wrist spinners give you in all formats. We welcome Josh with open arms.”