Mark Robinson today played down the significance of Sussex's top of the table clash with Lancashire, insisting: "It's not a Championship decider."

Lancashire arrive at the County Ground tomorrow (11am) a point clear of their closest rivals.

And the feeling persists that Sussex will be out of the race if they lose, especially as Lancashire as well as Hampshire and Kent - the other counties in realistic contention - all have a game in hand.

Not so, according to Robinson who is confident his side can bounce back from Sunday's 13-run defeat by Warwickshire which cost them top spot.

He said: "The Championship is won over 18 games not one. If we lost and won our other four games then we'd probably go very close again.

"All we will be doing is playing hardball cricket and trying to win which is what we have been doing all season.

"I'll leave it to others to build it up to be a title decider. As far as the players are concerned it's another game which they will be desperate to win."

Robinson believes Sussex's big guns - the likes of Murray Goodwin, Chris Adams, Mushtaq Ahmed and Yasir Arafat - will respond to the big occasion.

He added: "That's why you pay top dollar for these guys because they perform in the big games - and that's what makes them top players.

"When we have needed them to perform they have normally produced and I don't think it will be any different against Lancashire."

Robinson and skipper Adams will make a late decision on selection but Matt Prior is making good progress after tweaking his hamstring last Friday which meant Andrew Hodd kept wicket in Warwickshire's second innings.

Prior is rated 60-40 and should play while James Kirtley, Robin Martin-Jenkins and Luke Wright will contest two places in the seam attack.

Sussex produced their worst Championship cricket of the season at Liverpool in June when they were beaten inside two days.

And Lancashire, seeking their first outright title since 1934, showed their pedigree at the weekend when they beat Nottinghamshire despite conceding a 197 runs first-innings lead.

Robinson added: "They are a good team and as a club Lancashire have a great pedigree. We didn't play at all well up there a few weeks ago. We are a better side than that and Lancashire will be aware that at Hove we are pretty hard to beat."

Meanwhile, Goodwin is backing Sussex to prove their Championship credentials against Lancashire.

Goodwin, who is the country's leading run scorer with 1,145 runs, will be a key performer at Hove.

And he believes the county are in the mood to bounce back after the agony of Sunday's defeat.

He said: "I definitely think we will go out there and deliver our best because it's such a big game and in those circumstances in the past we have tended to perform.

"It seems with this team that every time there is a bit of a crisis we produce. That's what happened in their second innings against Warwickshire when we bowled them out for 140."

Goodwin is also playing down the significance of this week's match in the Championship race.

He added: "I would like to think we shouldn't lose especially at Hove where our record is pretty good.

"But if we don't win it doesn't mean we won't win the Championship. There are five games to go - that's a lot of cricket still left when anything can happen."

Cricket fixtures, division one - Today: Durham v Nottinghamshire (Riverside). Wednesday: Kent v Hampshire (Canterbury).

Division two - Wednesday: Essex v Somerset (Southend), Glamorgan v Worcestershire (Colwyn Bay), Gloucestershire v Leicestershire (Cheltenham), Surrey v Northants (The Oval).