Captain Andrew Gale insists Yorkshire can bounce back from their recent disappointments to feature in the knockout stages of the Friends Life t20 competition.

The White Rose skipper has seen his side lose two out of their last three North Division matches, amounting to an overall total of four defeats from nine fixtures.

And, ahead of tonight’s trip to face second-placed Leicestershire at Grace Road, they sit second bottom in the group with only eight points – still three away from the all-important top four.

Their saving grace is that they have still got a game in hand on the majority of teams above them with seven still to play, including tonight.

But that will mean little if they fail to get back on the winning trail quickly following double success over Lancashire earlier on in the competition.

Yorkshire’s last outing saw them lose by 41 runs to Worcestershire at New Road, forcing Gale and director of professional cricket Martyn Moxon to leave out struggling Anthony McGrath.

But Gale said: “There is no reason that we can’t still qualify, but we need to put a good run together quickly.

“Twenty20 cricket is all about momentum. We had it after the wins over Lancashire, but we’ve lost it now. We need to get it back as soon as possible. It’s vital we bounce back against Leicestershire.

“We were pretty poor all round against Worcester.

“The first six overs of our batting was a particular worry. We lost five wickets in the first six and a bit overs. From then on, it was always going to be tough.

“We have a hell of a lot of batting in our team, but we need to think clearer out in the middle.”

Yorkshire have been the model of inconsistency during their North Division campaign.

After losing their first two, they then won their next two before a no result, another win and another no result sandwiched in between two more defeats.

“You get that with young teams,” continued Gale. “But it’s the experienced players who are not doing it at the moment.

“Mags has struggled for form, I’ve not pitched in with a big score and Lythy’s a bit out of form.”

The tight nature of the North Division table is highlighted by the fact that Leicester are second with four wins, which is only one more than Yorkshire have managed from one game less.

They have, however, got four points from abandoned fixtures.

Left-arm spinner David Wainwright is available for selection before heading off to Derbyshire for a month’s loan spell at the weekend.

But McGrath will spend time netting with the other members of the first-team squad not involved in Twenty20 as he aims to rectify his struggles in all forms of the game.

He has not scored a 50 in any competition after struggling with back and knee injuries during the early part of the summer.

“Mags will get involved with the lads back at Headingley in order to try to find a bit of rhythm in his game,” commented Moxon.