Sadler’s focus on Steelbacks as he admits ‘we can't worry about what we can't control’

Northants travel to Grace Road needing a victory to keep alive their slim hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals.

If they can claim the two points then attention will turn to results elsewhere both tonight and on Sunday which will determine the Steelbacks' last eight fate, but Sadler insists he and his players aren't worrying themselves with things 'we can't control'.

Top of the table a fortnight ago, the Steelbacks' qualification hopes were severely dented by three defeats in the space of four days at the hands of Derbyshire Falcons, Birmingham Bears and Yorkshire Vikings.

They go into the clash against the Foxes sitting in fifth in the table, a point behind fourth-placed Yorkshire - who still have two games to play - and two points adrift of top three Lancashire Lightning, the Bears and Derbyshire.

All of the teams above the Steelbacks also boast a better run-rate.

Another spanner in the mix is that sixth-placed Leicestershire can still mathematically qualify for the last eight themselves, so there is a lot to play for.

But Sadler and his team do know that if they can beat the Foxes, and beat them well, then they should leapfrog Derbyshire and move back into the top four, as the Falcons are without a game.

The Falcons end their campaign on Sunday with a home game against Durham.

The other big game for Steelbacks supporters to keep an eye on tonight is Yorkshire hosting the Bears.

Sunday then sees Yorkshire go to Leicestershire and the Bears travel to Old Trafford to take on Lightning.

The Steelbacks haven't played since Friday's 62-run home loss to the Vikings, with the red ball team playing out a draw with Warwickshire.

"When it comes to the T20 squad, some of them have had a bit of a break this week so will come back fresh," said Sadler.

"We are high on confidence, even though we have lost a couple of games.

"Last week didn't go to plan but we are still a high quality team, we have every box ticked and some really goos match winners in there.

"Everybody knows their roles, so we will treat Friday night as we do any other game.

"We are going to turn up, we are going to try and win it, and win it as best we can.

"Whether or not we go through, and all the other stuff that goes on, we can't control that.

"So we are just going to focus on what we do and try and do it well.

"We will do the best we can, try and put on a show, win the game against Leicester and then what will be, will be from there on.

"We can't worry about what we can't control."

Squad wise, Sadler is likely to stick with the players that have claimed six wins out of the 11 matches completed over the campaign, although he could be tempted to hand Ricardo Vasconcelos his first start, with the left-hander having recovered from his broken thumb.

The last time the two sides met, at the County Ground last month, Chris Lynn hit a century as the Steelbacks cruised to a 42-run win.