James Tredwell has urged his Kent teammates to take it one step at a time ahead of tonight’s T20 against Surrey at Tunbridge Wells.

With five NatWest T20 Blast group games remaining by the middle of last week, the Spitfires knew that they would require victory in at least four of them to give themselves any hope of a quarter final spot.

On Thursday and Friday nights, Kent pulled off impressive victories over both Somerset and Gloucestershire, completing a West Country double, and keeping their hopes of a place in the knockout stages alive.

“We obviously knew that they were pretty big games for us, but we just wanted to take each situation as it came and play good cricket, and hopefully that would get us over the line”, Tredwell said when KSN caught up with him on the eve of the Surrey game.

“It proved to be the case, and that keeps us in with a sniff going forward into the games coming up. That’s always a nice place to be.”

The experienced slow bowler is keen to ensure that he and his teammates don’t look too far ahead, however, as they prepare to face their local rivals at The Nevill Ground this evening.

“I think sometimes you can look too deep into what results you need”, the 34-year-old England international said.

“I think we just tried to go back to the drawing board a little bit and just tried to concentrate on each ball and each situation we come up against. Sometimes you put too much pressure on trying to get a result, and actually forget about how you’re going to get that result. That’s the major thing that we’re trying to do at the moment.

“I don’t think we’re looking too far beyond that first ball. We want to start the game well and put in performances to each and every man, and hopefully that’s enough to get us over the line and get a result.

“We know we’re coming up against some tough teams and tough fixtures, as all the fixtures are in the South Group of the T20. We know that every game is a tough one.

“We just want to concentrate on our own performances, and each ball and each situation. If we do that, and we perform to the best of our ability, hopefully that’s enough to get a result.”

Kent have named their 13-man squad for this evening’s game, and it is one which sees a number of familiar faces missing, through a variety of reasons. Overseas batsman Tom Latham’s time at the club has ended as he rejoins New Zealand prior to their tour of Africa, while Matt Coles remains unavailable for selection.

Fabian Cowdrey, an important cog in the Spitfires limited-overs side, had emergency surgery to remove his appendix on Wednesday, while Ivan Thomas and Calum Haggett both remain sidelined by injury.

Tredwell is keen to see the positive side of the changes to the squad, however, and hopes that other members will be able to take the opportunity presented to them.

“Sometimes it’s great to have people coming into the side as part of an opportunity”, the Ashford-born bowler told KSN.

“They’re obviously chomping at the bit to put in a performance – not that the other guys aren’t, but to have those guys really hungry for success coming into the side, really trying to prove a point, can be a real benefit.

“Obviously it doesn’t help when you’re chopping and changing the team regularly and you’ve got to think about balance. That can’t be a help, obviously, but to have those fresh faces coming in and add that bit of impetus to your team is not bad thing at times.”