Kent Spitfires will need to open their Friends Provident Trophy win account against Sussex or Surrey this weekend or face elimination in the qualifying stages for the second season running.

With two defeats from as many starts, Rob Key’s men will need to find their Twenty20 Cup-winning form of last year if they are to stand any chance of making the quarter-finals of the 50 overs event this summer.

Kent will be boosted by the return of big-hitting Justin Kemp after the South African all-rounder won his registration appeal to an ECB panel at The Oval on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old took a five-man support team to the hearing in Kennington made up of solicitor to the Professional Cricketers' Association Ian Smith, Kent chairman George Kennedy, chief executive Paul Millman, director of cricket Graham Ford and acting chairman of cricket Paul Box-Grainger.

On Sunday, Kent take on the Sharks at Hove just a week after the sides drew in the Championship at the same ground, and on Bank Holiday Monday, Spitfires travel to the Brit Oval to take on Surrey.

Key said: “Everyone talked in pre-season about how good a one-day team we will be and yet we’ve lost our first two games. We’ve bowled poorly and haven’t made the starts we wanted with the bat and skill wise, we’ve not been up to the mark.

"We’re under a bit of pressure to win now and there’s no more room for choking. We have got to win every game by putting things right quickly.

He added: "If Justin comes back to us it will be a huge boost. It also puts people in the side under pressure. A lot of us need to start playing better and the threat of losing your place will make people realise they can’t sit back in a comfort zone."

Kent have announced a 12-man squad for both games and have dropped beneficiary Matt Walker to make way for Kemp.

Spitfires' squad: Rob Key, Joe Denly, Martin van Jaarsveld, Justin Kemp, Darren Stevens, Geraint Jones, James Tredwell, Azhar Mahood, Ryan McLaren, Yasir Arafat, Simon Cook and Martin Saggers.