We may well have lost three Division Two County Championship games in succession, but now is not the time to panic.

Defeats by Kent, Derbyshire and Northants have certainly not enhanced our prospects of winning promotion to the First Division.

Yet all is not lost and, owing to our excellent form during the first half of the season, we are still very much in a position to challenge.

Rather than dwell too much on what has gone, we must remain calm, regain our focus and work hard to restore confidence and form.

Of course, that is easier said than done, especially for our batters, who have been out of sorts and at fault for our recent failings in the four-day game.

Our director of cricket, John Bracewell, was forthright in his assertion that top-order shortcomings were to blame for us dropping out of the top two. It sounds harsh, but he has a point when you consider we have failed to collect a single batting bonus point in any of those three games.

This week's contest against Northants merely served to highlight the problem. In David Lucas, we were up against a left-armer who caused the ball to swing consistently. He was not super quick, only had one trick in his armoury – swinging the ball into the right-hander – and was by no means impossible to play. Yet our batsmen were unable to come up with a game-plan to combat him and simply caved in.

There were too many basic errors, which is surprising given the experience and talent in our top and middle-order batting. Take nothing away from Lucas, whose line and length were good throughout, but our guys should have been able to cope with him.

Of course confidence has become an issue, but there are other factors involved. I'm not saying the guys are not trying their hardest, because I know they are. But players sometimes have to look closely at their application and desire.

Obviously, I'm not a batsman, but I still find it difficult to understand how guys can hit the ball so cleanly and play so well in one-day cricket and then under-achieve to such an extent in the longer format.

The different balls play a part but, as far as I'm concerned, our loss of form in the four-day game is inexplicable. What I do know is that there is no point worrying about it too much. It is all too easy to over-practice and psyche yourself out in these situations.

Instead, I would advise the guys to take a complete break from cricket for a few days, think about something different altogether and come back on Wednesday or Thursday and work really hard in preparation for our next Championship fixture against Glamorgan, which starts in Bristol a week today.

As we have already see this year, the pitches in Bristol offer us an opportunity to win games – and that has not always been the case in recent times.

Now that we have three strong quick bowlers and a decent fourth seam option at our disposal, we can afford to produce result wickets. James Franklin has made a big difference and his arrival has eased some of the pressure on Steve Kirby and myself.

The option of using Ian Saxelby, Tom Stayt or Anthony Ireland means the strike bowlers are fresher because they are able to rest for longer.

The balls we are using in the Championship this season may go softer more quickly, but they swing for longer and that has helped us win matches at Bristol.

However, when you're side is set up as ours is, it is imperative the top seven batsmen score heavily. That remains the key to success and, if those guys can rediscover some form as a group rather than as individuals, we will still have a big say in the promotion race.

We may have lost ground in recent weeks, but victory over Glamorgan would put us right back in the hunt with a home game against leaders Kent still to come.

Before that, we have the small matter of a Pro-40 League game against Durham to negotiate at Cheltenham today.

If we can make home advantage count, we will be in a strong position for the tough away games which follow.

Interview: Andy Stockhausen