Sam Northeast says it will be “weird’ to face his former county for the first time in a Lord’s final.

Northeast joined Hampshire in February after being with Kent from under-10 youth level and rising to club captain.

The 28-year-old will line up against the Spitfires in Saturday’s Royal London One-Day Cup final.

Northeast said: “When the draw came out and we were on opposite sides I just thought ‘this is going to happen’.

“It’s great and pleased for a lot of the guys who are doing really well there at Kent at the moment. Joe (Denly) especially seems to be playing outstanding cricket. I was pleased for Grant (Stewart) this week to come in and make such a good impact and a lot of the guys going nicely.

“They are a good bunch of lads and they deserve it.

“It’s going to be weird playing against them especially as it’s a Lord’s final. It’s going to be odd but hopefully it’s going to be a really good spectacle and we can put on a really good show.”

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Northeast missed two months of Hampshire’s season after breaking his finger in April.

He has only returned to the side in recent weeks but made a half-century in their semi-final win over Yorkshire.

Northeast said: “It’s been good I just haven’t played that much this year. Having two months off wasn’t of the plan.

“After scoring a hundred you want to kick on from there but I’ve been lucky so far in my career that I haven’t been injured at any stage so I guess I was due.

“It’s a strange one because I haven’t been part of the group stages at all and have come in at the semi-final and it was a bit of a luxury there to have not had to put in the hard work!”

Northeast missed the group stage match between the two clubs through injury.

Kent snatched victory at The Ageas Bowl when Calum Haggett and Matt Henry successfully defended six runs from the final two overs.

However, Hampshire topped the group and then eased to victory over Yorkshire in the semi-final to set up the match with Kent at Lord’s.

Northeast said: “The guys have been playing really well through the group stages and we are in a good place. It’s nice to be through to a Lord’s final against Kent who are going extremely well at the moment and it won’t be easy.

“For Kent to get to the final and go away to Notts and put in a big display like that is impressive.

“I think we have been playing really good cricket all the way through and the confidence is pretty high in our camp.”

Northeast was made captain in 2016 and in his first season helped the side to the quarter-finals but lost at home to Yorkshire.

He was also part of the Kent team that made it to the quarter-final in 2015 and semi-final in 2014.

Northeast: “We (Kent) got to quarter-finals and never really put our best performances on the table. You always want to get to those finals, especially when you are captain.

“If Hampshire aren’t doing well I want Kent to do well. I’ve obviously moved on and am happy down here in Hampshire but I always keep an eye out on how everyone is getting on.

“You want to be a part of semi-finals and finals and winning trophies. You just put everything out there on the day and hopefully we will come out on top. It will be a great day and two teams playing really good cricket.”