RICHARD Dawson will urge Gloucestershire’s players to forget last season’s struggles and set the tone for 2016 with a victory over Derbyshire in their first home Specsavers County Championship game of the campaign, starting on Sunday.

Despite excellent early season wins at Chelmsford and Old Trafford last year, Gloucestershire lost their first four Championship games at Bristol, failing to register a home win until the Cheltenham Festival.

Dawson knows that any hope of winning promotion from the Second Division hinges on ensuring there is no repeat of last summer’s frailties.

And, following a heavy defeat at Essex in the opening four-day fixture, the head coach will be more determined than ever to register an early win at the newly-named Brightside County Ground.

Dawson said: “We have to understand how to win on our own pitches. There has been a lot of talk about it in pre-season and there is no point in talking about promotion unless it happens.

“If we can’t win our home games, it is important not to lose them. That will be our focus, starting against Derbyshire.”

There were positives to take from the Essex game. New four-day captain Gareth Roderick hit two half-centuries, while young seamer Josh Shaw, on a season-long loan from Yorkshire, claimed four first innings wickets.

Dawson said: “We are looking forward to seeing how Josh performs on our own wickets. He bowls a full length at good pace and we have high hopes that he will be an important player for us.

David Payne will be hoping to be fit for selection against Derbyshire, having missed the trip to Chelmsford with a hand injury.

The left-arm seamer sustained a gash in the warm-up game against Durham MCCU and has been wearing protection on the damaged finger.

New overseas signing Cameron Bancroft had a disappointing debut with the bat against Essex, scoring seven and nought.

But Dawson remains convinced the Australian will add strength at the top of the order and it shouldn’t be forgotten that even Michael Klinger took time to adjust to early-season English pitches when joining Gloucestershire.

“Cameron has arrived full of confidence from some superb displays back home and is a quality player,” said Dawson.

“We believe he will help us post competitive scores that will give our attack something to bowl at.”