Nottinghamshire will go into the final day of their Rothesay County Championship match against Yorkshire at Headingley requiring just five wickets to stay at the top of the Division One table at the halfway stage of the season.

After Notts had declared their second innings closed on 393 for eight, midway through the afternoon session, they picked up five Yorkshire scalps, after the home side had been set to score 463 in a minimum of 153 overs.

Joe Clarke followed his first day score of 64 with 94 second time around to put Notts into a strong position to register a first win on the ground since 2011.

“I’m so pleased for Joe,” said Paul Franks, Nottinghamshire’s Assistant Head Coach. “Runs avoided him in the early part of the summer but those of us that work with him on a day to day basis know it was only a matter of time. The last couple of weeks it’s come good for him and let’s hope it stays that way.”

Franks revealed that the day had gone pretty close to how he’d hoped.

“We wanted a certain number of runs and we wanted them as quickly as we could,” he said. “We know that to take 10 wickets to win the game can taken a little bit longer but it’s gone pretty much as we’d hoped.

“The pitch has eased a little bit and we’ve had to work hard for our rewards today but the lads have earned what we’ve got so I’m pleased at where we are.”

Liam Patterson-White didn’t get to bowl in the hosts’ first innings but more than made up for it on day three, snaring three of the wickets that went down.”

“He did a great job,” said Franks. “He came on and really grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and to take the key wickets of Lyth and Malan in a short space of time really wrested things in our favour and then he changed ends and gave them no-where to go and if we get more of that tomorrow we’ll be in a good spot.”

Franks played in the last Nottinghamshire side to win a red ball match at Headingley, overcoming the White Rose in dramatic fashion 14 years ago.

“I remember it well, Luke Fletcher picked up a few wickets to get us over the line.”

That was only the fourth time that Notts have ever won a County Championship match on the ground, a stat that the coach was unaware of.

“Really?” he said. “Well let’s hope it’s five tomorrow!”