Paul Farbrace says Sussex need to sign two or three experienced players in time for next season.

The county saw their unbeaten record in the Championship slip away as they lost by seven wickets to Durham today.

Their only win came in the opening fixture, also against Durham and a youthful side have found the going tough in recent seasons.

Head coach Farbrace said: “Durham are the best team in the division and they played the best cricket.

“We showed some fight and character in terms of how we played on days two and three.

“We didn't chuck the towel in, which I didn't expect us to. We kept going and bowled half-decently.

“Unfortunately, we shelled too many chances and we missed some decent opportunities. We haven't played well enough.

“We're learning a lot about ourselves as a team. Unfortunately, we haven't got the experience on the field when you get into tough situations to deal with them.

"That's a big problem for us. We've got a lot of players who don't know how to win games and therefore they don't expect to win when they get into those tough situations.

“When you play against a Durham team, who are the best team in the division, when they were put in positions where they could capitalise they knew how to do it.

“We’ve played against teams this year that have strong experienced cricketers.

“We're a team of potential, which means that we don't have experience and we don't have a great deal of leadership on the field.

"And we don't have a great deal of understanding of how to win games. That fundamentally is our issue. You can't suddenly change that.

“What we can do in the winter is recruit well.

“We need to recruit two or three players who can come straight into our side with great experience, who know how to win and know how to compete and can help our best youngsters.

“We need to know who our youngsters are that can battle and keep them in the team and surround them with experienced players, who can help them through phases of the game."

Danny Lamb and Chris Wright are already on board for 2024.

Sussex can still push for promotion in the Championship in the coming weeks but those hopes have receded.

They now need to go on the type of run they have not managed for years in their last three games.

They lost this one in a little more than three days having begun the match with a three-figure opening stand.

Farbrace said: “One of the phrases the dressing room will be sick of me talking about is what the game means at the time, and not enough players understand it.

“They get out at the wrong times. In this game, we lost wickets to the new ball having fought so hard.

“We have a lad who's 50 not out gets out with a wild slash outside of off-stump rather than seeing the new ball through.

“They are times that we don't recognise what's needed and we play the same game every day without learning.

“But we've got a lot of people that have only played 15 or 20 games in Championship cricket so it's no surprise when they are put under pressure by a senior team like Durham they don't know how to cope with it."