MOEEN Ali has stressed the importance of Worcester - shire’s players “staying con - fident” throughout the ups and downs of LV= County Championship Division One cricket.

The England international was part of the County side who remained in the top flight in 2011 despite losing the first six matches of the campaign.

Worcestershire, currently playing at local rivals Warwickshire, bounced back from their opening brace of defeats against Yorkshire and Sussex with a victory over Somerset at New Road.

There had been encourag - ing signs for the County in the first two matches for long periods, with first-innings leads obtained in both games before eventually losing by 10 wickets to Yorkshire and 61 runs to Sussex.

Moeen, 27, said: “The last time we came up we lost the first six matches but were competitive in those games and stayed up.

“I remember we beat Not - tinghamshire, Lancashire and Sussex. I captained us in some of those games and it was great to avoid going back down.

“It’s going to be tough again this time. Division One is tough cricket so we are going to have to be on our game and the guys are going to have to bat well.

“But, even if we lose a couple of games, we’ve got to stay confident.”

Ed Barnard and Joe Clarke have been allowed to return and play for Shropshire dur - ing the early season.

Wicketkeeper Clarke show- ed his batting power with 107 in the Unicorns Knockout Trophy clash against Northumberland at Oswestry.

The Shrewsbury-born duo will play when their Worces - tershire commitments allow.