After suffering the ignominy of playing in the County Shield competition for the past two seasons, Hampshire can return to the top 16 tonight if they can get past Surrey at Esher.

It is a winner-takes-all one-off showdown for the right to play in the County Championship alongside the likes of Cornwall, Lancashire, Gloucestershire and Yorkshire - and one that the visitors must take for the betterment of the game in Hampshire.

That is the view of coaches Simon Morgan and Roy Gittens, who have seen their miniscule squad diminished by the lowliness of the competition they are playing in, but the thought of tackling the bigger names will, they hope, bring out the best in Hampshire Rugby.

They know, however, that lifting the squad for one final push will not be easy in this already mammoth-length season. Many of these players have been training and playing for nearly 12 months since pre-season practice commenced.

The coaches are pleased, however, that those available for the campaign have pinned their hopes to the badge for this vitally important game (kick-off 7.30pm).

Hampshire make two changes to the side beaten by Oxfordshire at Basingstoke last Saturday with Winchester scrum-half Andy Ashwin swapping the replacement place with Havant's Liam Davenport, while Derek Eldridge of Petersfield comes in for the unfit Portsmouth winger Grant Erskine.

That will not affect the side too much, given Eldridge has scored three tries in this season's campaign. Havant utility back Steve Stapleton goes on to the bench for his first appearance in the navy blue.

"The players know how much this fixture means to Hampshire," said Gittens after the Oxfordshire clash. "It is going to be difficult to pick them up and playing Surrey in Surrey will not be easy as their 48-3 thumping of Kent proved.

"But now we are going to go there and try and get the promotion I think we deserve," he continued. "This squad has done superbly in the previous three games and they are showing so much commitment to Hampshire.

"They are prepared to put their end-of-season holidays on hold for another week for one big push to get us back in the County Championship proper."

Hampshire will again be looking to the National League experience of the Osman quartet to see them through, especially centre Russell, who was one of the leading try scorers in National Division Two last season and will be playing in Division One next term.