WHEN I watch some of the YB40 final on Saturday, I’m going to be annoyed that we’re not there.

We’ve had a bit of a shocker this season because we’ve lost two big semi-finals and now we’re left with nothing to play for in our final County Championship matches.

There’s no chance to win anything and no chance to get promoted, and we’re also not in a battle against relegation.

We’ve tasted a lot of success in the last few years and we’re not used to losing the big games.

Losing a semi-final isn’t a nice feeling and we’ve had to experience that for once.

The dressing room isn’t a nice place to be afterwards but it isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

It makes you hungry to win a trophy and gets you thinking about trying to do better next year – Lord’s finals are special and we wanted to be there.

All that we’re playing for now is a bit of pride.

There are players that will be trying to get runs and take wickets to press their case to get a new deal if their contract is up and there are also players that have their own personal targets that they’ve set for the season.

I’m looking to try and get 1,000 runs this year, which is something that I’ve never done before – that’s what’s keeping me going in the last two games.

I’ve got about 150 runs left to get past that target, which is a good return for most batsmen, so hopefully I can do that.

Once that’s over, I’m looking forward to having a bit of time off to put my feet up because it’s been a long, tough season.

I’ve played in every single game and it’s mentally draining, so I think that it will be time for me to rest up until Christmas and then get ready to go again.

The Liam Dawson column will return at the start of next season