ADAM Lyth admits to loving life as a senior figure in the Yorkshire dressing room.

The two-time Championship winner’s value both on and off the field at Emerald Headingley is, arguably, as important as ever, given the fresh look about the county’s team at present.

Jack Shutt, Dom Leech and George Hill have all made their first-class debuts in the opening three rounds of the ongoing Bob Willis Trophy.

Injuries and England call-ups have shorn the squad of a number of experienced heads, such as Gary Ballance, Ben Coad, Dawid Malan and David Willey.

Yorkshire will be forced into changes for today’s Roses clash with Lancashire at Headingley, the penultimate North Group clash in the Bob Willis Trophy.

Amazingly, out of their 13-man squad, nine are yet to make a Roses first-class appearance, though that includes ex-South Africa Test quick Duanne Olivier.

Jonny Bairstow and Malan, who have batted at three and four in the last two rounds against Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, will be missing due to England T20 duty, putting more onus on Lyth to offer guidance off the field and runs on it.

The 32-year-old opening batsman said: “With losing Jonny and Dawid, the aim will be for myself and Tom (Kohler-Cadmore) to get through that first session and see where we’re at.

“Hopefully at least one of us can put on a big score.

“It’s always nice to see the young lads come in, make debuts and do well.

“We’ve always said there would be injuries at the start of the season. We’ve got a big squad and have used quite a number of players already.

“I’ve been a senior player for a number of seasons now, and we’re always there to talk to the young lads and give them some guidance on conditions and the pitches at Headingley - what shots to play, what shots not to play.

“Dom Leech has been speaking to Patto (Steve Patterson) a bit as well, which is great for him.”

In three games so far - Yorkshire have won two and drawn one and sit second in the North Group, two points behind leaders Derbyshire - Lyth has contributed scores of 50 and 31.

His half-century came in the second innings of the victory against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge and the 31 in the first innings of the most recent draw against Derbyshire at Headingley.

In tough batting conditions, both scores seemed to be worth more than the numerical value.

“I feel really good. They were tough conditions last Saturday,” he said of the Derbyshire innings.

“On another day, I might have missed it (the nick off), gone on and batted for another 30 or 40 overs.

“You need a bit of luck batting at Headingley, and unfortunately that didn’t happen.

“But I felt I played lovely against Notts second innings when it was really tough - it was spinning and the wicket wasn’t too great.

“Hopefully I’ll get some time in the middle against Lancs, get a bit of luck and there will be plenty of runs out there for me.”

While Yorkshire are second, Lancashire are third and 20 points behind them. Both sides have to contend with unavailability, but that doesn’t mean the contest will be any less intense.

Lyth added: “It’s always one we look out for every single year, when they’re in our division. I love playing against them.

“The T20s are the ones you really look out for, but the lads can’t wait to play against them. I’m sure their lads can’t wait to play against us as well.”