NEIL Fairbrother is winning his fitness battle for Lancashire's Championship match against Sussex starting at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

Fairbrother missed last week's NatWest defeat at Hove with a thigh strain, but coach Dav Whatmore rates him "probable" to return as Lancashire bid for Championship revenge, and a third consecutive victory.

They are set to field a full strength batting line-up for the first time since the trip to Leicester five matches ago with Mike Atherton and John Crawley both available and Jason Gallian fit again after his hand injury.

But the bowling attack will definitely be missing Wasim Akram and Glen Chapple, out for at least two weeks after his stomach injury was diagnosed as an oblique abdominal tear.

Richard Green is also ruled out with no end in sight to his ankle problems so Peter Martin, Darren Shadford and Ian Austin seem certain to lead the Lancashire attack.

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