Northants Steelbacks v Yorkshire Carnegie: Leaders Yorkshire need to make sure of last-four spot

Yorkshire will qualify for the last four if they beat Northamptonshire at Wantage Road today (4.10pm start). But the county could still miss out on the knockout stages if they lose to Northamptonshire and also to Essex in their final group match at Headingley on Saturday.

If that happens, and if Essex and Gloucestershire win their remaining games, Group B leaders Yorkshire could be eliminated despite having won nine of their opening 10 fixtures.

"We've played some excellent cricket to give ourselves a great chance of qualifying, but we can't afford to take anything for granted," said Moxon. "It's not beyond the bounds of possibility that we could lose our last two games, while Essex and Gloucestershire could win their remaining matches.

"People have been talking about the possibility of us playing a semi-final at Scarborough next month because the one-day international at Headingley the next day prevents us playing there, but we've got to get to the semi-finals first."

Gloucestershire are second in Group B with 16 points from 11 games, while Essex are third with 15 points from 10 matches.

Gloucestershire's last game is away to Northamptonshire on Saturday, while Essex play Middlesex at Chelmsford on Thursday before rounding off with the trip to Headingley.

Essex could still overhaul Yorkshire's points total, with each game attracting two points for a win, while Gloucestershire could still finish level with Yorkshire and push them into third place on net run-rate.

The top side in each of the three groups qualifies along with the best second-placed team.

"It's very tight, and we need to make sure we finish the job off," added Moxon.

"Northants have got some dangerous players, while Essex will be another tough test."

Yorkshire will be hoping for a happier outcome than when they last visited Northampton in July.

The Twenty20 Cup game was tied in dramatic circumstances when Richard Pyrah conceded 12 runs off the final ball of the match. Pyrah bowled a no-ball that was hit for six, counting as eight runs to the total, before his extra delivery was hit for four.

"That was just a one-off and I can't believe anything like that could ever happen again," added Moxon.

"Richard has just got to forget it and put it out of his mind, and I'm sure he'll do just that."

Yorkshire (from): Gale (captain), Rudolph, Lyth, McGrath, Brophy, Bairstow, Bresnan, Rashid, Pyrah, Shahzad, Patterson, Wainwright, Sanderson.