ANDREW Hodd insists that Yorkshire must be wary of the wounded animal - in this case the Bear - when they face Warwickshire at Headingley on Tuesday.

Yorkshire, who hand a debut to West Indies Test opener Kraigg Brathwaite, badly need a win in their fight against relegation in the Specsavers County Championship - something the Bears are already consigned to.

Beaten by champions Essex by an innings at Edgbaston last week, they have only won once in their 12 matches this season and were relegated on Friday when other results went against them.

One view is that this is the ideal fixture for Yorkshire as they bid to avoid joining the Midlanders in Division Two next year.

A relegated team at home with nothing to play for, they are a shoo-in for the win - but that's not how sport works.

"Warwickshire are obviously relegated now, and I think that can be quite dangerous for us," said wicket-keeper Hodd ahead of the final home match of the season.

"They've got nothing to lose and can come out and play with a bit of freedom.

"The pressure is only on one side.

"Some of the players they've got - Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott and the like - you'd never back against people with that much quality.

"They might not be having the season they would like, but there's nothing stopping them coming off in a game."

Yorkshire drew last week's clash with Surrey after conceding 592 in the first innings and being made to follow-on 198 runs behind late on day three.

Hodd and company have maintained their fifth place in the table, but they are now just one point clear of Somerset and Middlesex.

Somerset (who travel to Surrey this week) sit in sixth, and seventh are Middlesex (who host Lancashire) and are inside the relegation zone courtesy of fewer wins.

In the last round of fixtures, Yorkshire travel to Chelmsford to face new champions Essex next week, while Middlesex are at Somerset.

Hodd hit a battling 57 in the first innings at The Oval last week, with Yorkshire making 394. They followed that up with 281-2.

"It has been a bit of an up and down season, but it's quite nice to know that the last couple of games we've started to play better cricket," said the former Sussex man.

"You've seen the innings where we've capitulated and been bowled out in sessions and stuff, but it doesn't feel like that's going to happen now.

"If we can post some decent scores, our bowlers can generally take care of the rest.

"Hopefully Kraigg Brathwaite comes in and does a similar job to what Shaun Marsh did at the top of the order at Surrey (78 and 125 not out)."

Brathwaite replaces Marsh, who returned home to Perth at the weekend.

The right-hander linked up with the squad on the evening of day one at Surrey last week, netted with them for the rest of the week and joined in the morning warm-up football matches.

"Kraigg's been good," added Hodd. "He's quite a quiet bloke, but he seems a real nice guy. He's obviously a serious player, and he's keen to get going now."

Ben Coad and Adam Lyth are available to return for Yorkshire having missed Surrey through rest and paternity leave respectively.

Ryan Sidebottom (quad injury) will have a fitness test at training tomorrow as he aims to plays at Headingley for the final time before retirement.

He is rated as a 50-50 chance to play.