Coach Mark Robinson insists tomorrow’s Championship game against bottom of the table Worcestershire will not decide Sussex’s first division fate.

The county overcame a wobble when they slumped to 140-4 to reach 249-4 and draw Saturday’s rain-affected game against Nottinghamshire at Horsham. The eight points lifted them seven points clear of the relegation zone.

Robinson said: “If we win next week it doesn’t mean we will stay up and if we don’t it doesn’t mean we’re going to go down. We have to keep a sense of perspective.”

Sussex were faced with scoring 222 to make Nottinghamshire bat again after the visitors hit 102 in 16 overs before they declared on 531-6.

Chris Nash and Ed Joyce eased early nerves with a stand of 66 in 17 overs but then Sussex lost four wickets in four overs including the badly out-of-form Murray Goodwin for just two and Nash for 87, which included 17 boundaries.

But Luke Wright and Carl Hopkinson batted with increasing fluency and when the players shook hands Wright had taken his aggregate in the last three games to 285 runs with an unbeaten 59 including 11 fours while Hopkinson was undefeated on 47.

Notts will point to the loss of 70 overs to rain as the main factor in Sussex’s escape while Sussex’s seamers have bowled 271 overs in their last two Championship games and taken just ten wickets.