A NOTTS victory in their clash at Surrey could tip the 'wide open' County Championship Division One title race in their favour, Mick Newell says.

With two rounds of matches to go, just four points separate Notts, in fourth, and leaders Hampshire, who have played a game more.

As a result, matches up and down the country are likely to affect the standings.

But director of cricket Newell says his team can only focus on what they have to do at the Oval.

"It's good to be involved in theses important matches," he said. "It didn't go our way on Sunday (when Notts lost the Pro40 title to Sussex), but we now have another game in which we can make an impact."

"Everyone has got two games to go apart from Hampshire, but a win in the next round of matches puts them in with a shout.

"I would say even Lancashire and Yorkshire are in that category, so it is a great opportunity for us.

"But any team who loses is going to make it very difficult for themselves, if not impossible.

"Every game is going to be hotly-contested. There are going to be no 'gimme' runs or friendly declarations."

This season's run-in is tighter than ever before and has been influenced by the bad weather, which has limited the number of decisive results.

But Newell feels there is another reason why there is so little to choose between top and bottom.

He said: "All the teams have good players, but there are no magic spinners who can make a real difference.

"There is no Warne, Muralitharan or Mushtaq this time, which makes things much closer."

Although Surrey are all but relegated, Newell is aware of their threat, especially at the Oval.

"Whatever else happens at the end of the season Surrey will have got a lot of batting points," he said.

"If they can bat well they can heap pressure on us like they did at Trent Bridge, and until they are absolutely down, they will not give up hope.

"And sometimes players can play with more freedom when they know they are almost relegated."