JOHN CRAWLEY admitted that Lancashire are facing a battle against relegation after they slipped to a third straight Championship defeat at Headingley yesterday.

Their faint hopes of snatching an unlikely last-day win were ended as they only added 38 to their overnight total - with John Wood brilliantly run out by Gary Fellows - leaving Yorkshire needing only 158 to win.

The Tykes knocked them off inside 34 overs for the loss of three wickets, with Aussie run machine Darren Lehmann taking his tally for the match to exactly 300 with 48 from only 24 balls.

Yorkshire therefore regained their 14-point lead over Somerset at the top of the table, and moved 41 points ahead of Lancashire - having played a game less.

But Lancashire now have to be more concerned about the teams behind them, with Northants - who are in the relegation zone - climbing within 16 points by beating Essex yesterday.

Lancashire play one of their new relegation rivals, Glamorgan, at Colwyn Bay tomorrow before the return Roses Match at Old Trafford next week and another vital match against Northants the week after.

Crawley, who had a superb Roses performance with 73 and 113, his first century of the season, said: "It's more of a relegation battle now than a title challenge, which is what everyone was expecting from us.

"That was a comprehensive defeat, you cannot say that Yorkshire were flattered by a seven-wicket win.

"There are areas for concern, in particular our batting. I thought we had solved the problems but obviously not."

Lancashire hope to have Neil Fairbrother back to boost the batting after he missed the Yorkshire game with a shoulder injury.

But Mike Atherton will be missing on Test duty and Glen Chapple could also be doubtful after picking up a series of niggles at Headingley.