Martyn Moxon says Yorkshire must treat their remaining County Championship fixtures like they are “six cup finals”.

The White Rose county go into today’s match against Essex at Chelmsford with a 21-point lead at the top of LV= division one, although second and third-placed Nottinghamshire and Lancashire have two games in hand.

“We have six cup finals left, they are massive games,” said Moxon. “We’ve played ten games very well so far. If we can maintain that sort of form, then we have a good chance of winning it.

“We’ve got Brezzy (Tim Bresnan) and Shahzad potentially coming back, but we’ve been pleased with the lads that have been playing while they’ve been away.

“Essex have also got their England players available, so it should be a very entertaining match.”

Director of professional cricket Moxon and captain Andrew Gale could have a very difficult task when it comes to selecting their side as Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad – injury permitting – are both available before England’s Test series against Pakistan.

Azeem Rafiq is also in the squad, but if not selected will link up with the England under-19s squad for their Test series against Sri Lanka. Anthony McGrath has recovered from a thumb injury.

Moxon said it would be “touch and go” whether Shahzad plays due to the hamstring injury picked up playing for England last week.

Yorkshire can now forget about their unsuccessful Friends Provident Twenty20 campaign.

After Sunday’s win against Derbyshire, Moxon again referred to a number of missed opportunities throughout the group.

And he continued: “It is disappointing and frustrating not to be in the quarter-finals.

“But I think the weekend was very encouraging to see Ben Sanderson, Lee Hodgson and Gary Ballance all come in and contribute something.

“It’s been a feature of this season that everyone in the squad has contributed in all forms of the game.”

Should Yorkshire win this week, they will complete the double over Essex after an emphatic three-day win at Scarborough in early May.

But wicketkeeper James Foster’s side have since beaten title favourites Notts inside three days at Chelmsford.

Moxon added: “We will have to play well to beat them. They will be full of confidence after their win over Notts.”

Meanwhile, Herschelle Gibbs has backed Yorkshire’s youngsters to dominate county cricket within five years.

But the 36-year-old is still confident the White Rose can bring silverware back to Headingley to this summer.

The South African international batsman has just finished his spell as the county’s Twenty20 overseas player.

“It is a very young team, and I have been very impressed with what I have seen,” he said.

“I think the guys, in four or five years time, can be top of the tree in every form of cricket.”

Gibbs has been around the squad for their last two four-day fixtures, the draw against Lancashire at Old Trafford and the win over Warwickshire at Headingley.

He added: “They are top of the league in the Championship and CB40. They have a great chance.”