EARBY skipper Ian Clarkson today kicked-off the psychological warfare ahead of tomorrow's Ramsbottom Cup final with Great Harwood by insisting his side have the extra experience necessary to bring the trophy back to Applegarth.

Clarkson is just one of a number of players in the Earby team with big-match experience as they prepare for the Ribblesdale League's showpiece final at Clitheroe.

And the former Nelson amateur believes that could end up being a telling factor, despite the fact Harwood go into the match as slight favourites due to their higher placing in the table.

"Great Harwood won't be looking forward to playing us quite as much as we'll be looking forward to playing them because, if you asked a lot of the teams in our league, I'm sure they'd probably say we've got a very strong side on paper," said Clarkson.

"We've got a lot of big match players with bags of experience and if we can pull all that together then we've got a great chance of winning.

"But everyone has got to raise their games and take responsibility when the pressure is on.

"There's been a lot of games we should have won this season but haven't and that's been more down to our own failings rather than the opposition being better than us.

"So one or two of our players have underachieved but I still think we've got the people to rise to the big occasion."

Big things were expected of Earby at the start of the summer following the signings of players like former Nelson duo Trevor Kegg and Craig Walton during the winter.

But their hopes of lifting the league title have all but vanished during the last month after they went five games without a win at a crucial point in the season.

So tomorrow's game has now taken on even greater significance for Clarkson and Co as they look to rescue some silverware from the embers of a disappointing league campaign.

"We haven't functioned as well as we should have done in the last three or four weeks and everyone knows that," said Clarkson.

"We'd got ourselves to within striking distance of the leaders, Read, but then lost the next four or five games and we now find ourselves 30 odd points behind.

"So we know we can't win the league now which is very disappointing but winning the cup would certainly help to soften the blow."

For that to happen, then Clarkson is hoping for big things from professional Alex Scholefield, who has shown flashes of his undoubted ability over the summer following his move from Todmorden.

"Potentially, he's going to be a very explosive player but his batting figures this season haven't reflected his ability," said Clarkson.

"He's been very unlucky on a couple of occasions but people have also got to remember he's a young lad who's still finding his feet in the game.

"He's had some good performances this year and he's shown us that, on his day, he's more than capable of getting decent scores.

"Against Read in our very first game, for instance, he never looked in any bother, scoring sixty-odd at a run-a-ball, and he looked in absolutely top-class form.

"So let's hope tomorrow, he can go on to get a good score because he's got the ability to do that.

"But it's not just about him, I believe we've got a host of players who can rise to the big occasion.

"We've got five or six bowlers who are all capable of taking five or six wickets.

"And in the batting department, the likes of Craig Walton and Stephen Pickles are more than capable of making big scores.

"So we've got a lot of experience in the side and we've got a lot of players who have played a lot of good cricket so I'd like to think we can draw on that in the build up then, come tomorrow, we'll put it altogether and see what we can do."

Earby have had to beat Read, Padiham and Barnoldswick to get to the final but if they are to see off Harwood tomorrow then they must find a way of keeping the shackles on Harwood pro Farhan Adil.

"Obviously, their professional is going to be the key man so we've got to look to try and contain him, if we can't bowl him out," said Clarkson.

"And then there's the captain, Paul Houldsworth, who can be a dangerous player with both the bat and the ball on his day.

"But, if I'm being honest, I don't know too much about them other than they've got one or two young lads who are very capable cricketers."

"So we're not really too bothered about them, it's more about what we do.

"And if we bat to our potential then we should be alright.

"We've beaten three good sides to get this far so we've proved on our day that we can actually do it.

"So we're just hoping we can all click together, with everyone taking responsibility, and with the experience we've got bring it all together tomorrow.

"I think we're capable of getting 250 and certainly capable of bowling teams out.

"But it's all on the day."