DURHAM have included Paul Collingwood in the squad for the County Championship clash with Lancashire that starts this morning, but the England all-rounder is not expected to be fit enough to bowl.

Collingwood missed the weekend's two Twenty20 victories over Lancashire and Leicestershire after injuring his groin in last week's Championship draw with Yorkshire.

He is part of the 13-man squad that travelled to Liverpool last night ahead of this week's four-day game at Lancashire's Aigburth ground.

But while he is fit enough to bat and field, he is extremely unlikely to bowl, meaning head coach Geoff Cook will not finalise his starting XI until he sees the state of the pitch this morning.

Having recalled Liam Plunkett to the squad after the Teessider claimed seven wickets in eight overs over the weekend's two games, spinner Scott Borthwick would appear to be the most vulnerable bowler unless the Aigburth wicket looks like it will produce a considerable degree of turn.

"We're a little bit undecided about what we're going to do," admitted Cook. "We've got a little bit of a problem with Paul, in as much that although he's fit to bat, he's unlikely to bowl.

"Getting the balance of the attack will depend very much on the surface we're playing on. We won't be able to make that decision until we see the pitch."

Table-toppers Durham will revert to four-day action defending a seven-point lead over their opponents, who have a game in hand.

Lancashire boast a 100 per cent record from their three matches at Aigburth this season, but Durham also have fond memories of the ground, having won on their only previous visit for a Benson & Hedges Cup match in 2001.

On that occasion, Neil Killeen took four for 18 to help dismiss Lancashire for 139 as Durham won by 54 runs.

The North-Easterners will no doubt be buoyed by yesterday's dramatic three-run win over Leicestershire in the Friends Life T20, but must now refocus their attention on the longer form of the game.

"The lads can enjoy (yesterday's) victory, but they know this is an important game," said Cook. "They've shown a lot of mental flexibility switching from 40-over cricket to 20-over and back to four-day already this season, and they're going to have to do it again.

"But moving forward all of this has to be looked at, and a reduction in the number of Twenty20 games will help.

"It's not only the numbers, but it's also the geographical scheduling of them as well. If the players get a bit of breathing space, it will allow them to adjust."

Yesterday's T20 win owed much to Gordon Muchall's 64, and Cook praised the opener's patience as he batted for all bar four balls of the innings.

"The key thing was that Muchall stayed there, scoring consistently off most balls," he said. "He got 60 off about 50 balls. The other guys also played really well, and I thought it was a very structured innings.

"Muchall is a regular boundary scorer, and he started off this year's Twenty20 clearing the boundary regularly. But you've got to be versatile and adapt to situations, and he did that."

DURHAM SQUAD (vs Lancashire): M Di Venuto, W Smith, G Muchall, P Collingwood, D Benkenstein, I Blackwell, P Mustard (capt), S Borthwick, C Thorp, G Onions, S Harmison, M Claydon, L Plunkett.