Surrey will need a big turnaround in fortunes when the Twenty20 Cup resumes later this month after a disappointing start to the competition.

The Brown Caps opening five matches have seen them win two and lose three in the South Division and it will require a near perfect return from their next five games to ensure progress to the quarter finals.

Victories over Middlesex and Hampshire have been offset by defeats to Sussex, Essex and in the return fixture with the Hawks on Monday.

The top two of each of the three divisions go through alongside the two best third placed teams. Essex and Kent are leading the way in the South Division and Surrey Cricket Manager Chris Adams believes his side need to be more ruthless if they are to catch the leaders.

"We know we're going to have to win three, maybe four and if we win all five we'll qualify by rights anyway," he said after the defeat to Hampshire earlier this week.

"In this competition there are going to be times when you don't get it right and you're going to be chasing big scores. And more often than not, you'll be losing those games.

"The Sussex game and this game are examples of that, which just highlights the fact that when you're in a good position in a Twenty20 game – the position we found ourselves in on a couple of occasions in the game at Chelmsford on Friday – you've got to take the opportunity.

"To be 86-1 after 10 and then lose three wickets in eight balls just highlights where we really do need to tighten up and be ruthless as a team. For that game to go down to the penultimate ball just shows that these games often go down to small margins and we've just to make sure we stay in the game longer than we are at the moment."

The second phase of the competition kicks off with the Brown Caps visiting Hove for the return match against the Sussex Sharks on Monday June 22.