Gloucestershire 195 (Hammond 48, Carson 3-19, Currie 3-36, Hunt 3-52) and 113 for 5 (Hunt 3-19) need another 400 runs to beat Sussex 202 and 505 for 7 dec (Coles 128, Alsop 79, Hudson-Prentice 71*)

Whether or not Sussex win their final match of the season - and they were well placed to beat Gloucestershire at the close on day three - could be the difference between finishing third or fifth in Division Two; between narrowly missing out on promotion or midtable mediocrity. Although in truth, as is the way with superficial summaries, neither would be an entirely accurate portrayal of how the campaign has gone.

Farbrace retains the "complete and absolute support" of the Sussex board, Filby added, and the head coach has already been making his assessments of where improvement can be made. While admitting that the job had perhaps been "a bit tougher than I thought it would be", Farbrace indicated that Sussex would be aiming to bring in a number of signings to add an experienced core to the squad.

"We have got some very talented youngsters and we very clearly need some experienced, solid cricketers on the field to help the players," Farbrace told the BBC, adding that it may take a couple more seasons to achieve the right blend.

"We probably need to bring in four or five senior players It will probably take us two winters of good recruitment, get some really good senior players - men - around some of these young lads, and then I think the team will grow very quickly from that point onwards."

Sussex could bring in an overseas signing to captain the side, although it seems unlikely that Pujara will return in the role. Pujara, who averaged 79.22 across two seasons of Championship cricket (and 84.00 in the One-Day Cup), was suspended for the penultimate game at Derby and duly flew back to India ahead of his involvement in the Irani Cup with Saurashtra.

Coles' efforts here underpinned a position of second-innings dominance for the home side. He was involved in a stand worth 155 with his captain, Tom Alsop, although received a left-off on 93 when Zafar Gohar put down a catch at fine leg off the bowling of Zaman Akhtar (Gohar also dropped Alsop, off the unfortunate Akhtar, earlier in the morning session). Further stands worth 79 and 68 followed with Oli Carter and Fynn Hudson-Prentice - the latter coming in the space of seven overs as Hudson-Prentice thrashed a 26-ball half-century.

A target of 513 looked like being more than enough as Sussex set about making quick inroads with the new ball - although they are fielding a depleted attack and it is only two weeks since tempers flared as Leicestershire came close to chasing 499, while Glamorgan escaped earlier in the season after a first-innings blowout by making 737 second time around.

Speaking on the livestream, Farbrace admitted that he was happy to "ruffle a few feathers" and it has certainly been a season at Hove to leave one or two sitting uneasily in their deckchairs. But victory over Gloucestershire on Friday would secure a third win of the summer, and third place in Division Two might be regarded, after all, as tangible sign of progress.