Surrey star Mark Ramprakash has warned his teammates that performances on the road must improve if they are to challenge for honours this season.

Ramprakash spoke out after seeing his side slump to a Twenty20 defeat to Middlesex at Lord's that all but ended the county's interest in this year's competition.

The mercurial Ramprakash said: "We have to learn that when we come away from the Oval we have to adjust to different pitches.

"We have a lot of young players out there at the moment and that is all part of the learning process.

"I don't want players to be pre-empting what shots to play but they need to be more aware of the surroundings."

The Lord's loss saw Surrey slide to fifth in the Twenty20 South Division with progress virtually impossible.

And the county also slipped out of the Friends Provident Trophy at the group stage, leaving Ramprakash a frustrated man.

He added: "It will obviously be very difficult for us to qualify now but we must keep at it. We have been involved in a lot of close games so I'm still confident we are improving."

Ramps will be taking over leadership duties at the Oval after skipper Mark Butcher underwent knee surgery on Monday which will rule him out for up to five weeks.

Butcher saw his knee flare up during the county game with Somerset at Whitgift, and the swift decision to go under the knife will see the 35-year-old return sooner rather than later.

Ramprakash added: "I enjoy captaincy so I'm looking forward to it.

"We have a young, up and coming side here and it is a good time to be a part of Surrey Cricket Club."