ASHLEY Giles says winning the double this season would be a major boost to Lancashire’s developing squad.

The Red Rose cricket director and head coach will not let his players rest up in their bid for silverware now that the NatWest T20 Blast title is in the bag.

He takes them back to Canterbury to face Kent in the LV= County Championship today knowing five points will seal promotion back to Division One for next season.

But that will not be good enough for the former England limited overs coach, who wants to cap his first season with the club in style by forcing home a 10-point lead over second-placed Surrey with three matches to play.

“Five points is all we need, but I still think the bigger picture is the one that’s gripping the guys,” he said.

“We’ll certainly celebrate if we get promoted, but winning it (the title) is now paramount. It would be a good run-in against Surrey.

“Promotion was the first aim, I keep saying that. We should do that now. But winning it would be great.

“The double is on. Whether that’s the soft double or a real double, it doesn’t really matter.

"If we can do the double, it would be great for this team.

“Kent are an awkward side down there, but we’ve got a lot to play for. Them less so right now, maybe pride.

"We’re going to have to hit the ground running.”

Lancashire are aiming to complete a quartet of wins over Kent this season, with two of their previous successes coming at Canterbury last month.

Giles has to contend with injury problems within his seam bowling department.

Leading wicket-taker Kyle Jarvis had already been ruled out for the rest of the season with a broken hand, suffered during training, when it was confirmed yesterday that overseas seamer James Faulkner would take no further part in the campaign.

The Australian suffered a dislocated finger during the latter stages of Saturday’s T20 final win over Northamptonshire.

Today’s clash was supposed to be his last appearance of the season for the county, but he has been forced to wave goodbye to his team-mates a few days early.

Still, Giles is determined to look on the bright side having seen young gun Gavin Griffiths cope so well on Saturday having replaced Jarvis.

“There’s going to be the disappointment of losing Jimmy for that game, but again, like the T20, where adversity comes, there’s always opportunity. Someone’s got to jump into that spot,” he added.