STEVE Rhodes has backed calypso king Chris Gayle to help dig Worcestershire out of their one-day relegation hole.

The West Indies Test opener goes straight into the County side that faces Lancashire Lightning at Old Trafford in the totesport League this evening.

It is the first of two fixtures against the Red Rose outfit this week, with a County Championship game at Blackpool to follow.

Rock-bottom Royals must succeed in the day-nighter to give their Division One survival hopes a late shot in the arm. Hampshire Hawks inflicted the County's seventh league defeat of a poor campaign on Monday with a four-wicket win at New Road.

With at least eight points needed to clamber from the relegation trapdoor and five games left, another setback under the Manchester floodlights could spell the end for the Royals.

Gayle, 25, makes his debut and is the sole addition to the side that lost to Hampshire, stepping in to replace Zander de Bruyn.

The Jamaican all-rounder arrived in England from the Caribbean yesterday and will hope to shake off jet-lag before opening the Worcestershire innings.

Rhodes is not putting too much pressure on Gayle to deliver on his first appearance. But the County's head coach is confident that his newest overseas recruit will prove a regular match-winner on the one-day scene.

"He will make an impact," said Rhodes. "We need somebody who can score runs. Chris is capable of that and has proved it at the very highest level.

"He won't have played too much cricket recently, but it does not seem to bother a lot of the West Indians. They have got a natural eye for the ball and I'm looking forward to seeing him batting.

"He's got a few strings to his bow and hopefully we will see plenty of success from it."

Lancashire are also searching for form after slumping to Warwickshire in last Saturday's C&G Trophy semi-final and then to Gloucestershire on Monday in the totesport League.

Rhodes said: "Lancashire had a bad day at the office against Warwickshire and maybe their confidence has been knocked a bit. Let's hope they are still a little bit hungover from that.

"But what I'm interested in is getting our game right, sticking to our plans and making them work."