JAKE Needham showed he could settle in for the long haul and take valuable wickets as Derbyshire's only front-line spinner.

A career-best 4-81 from the 21-year-old off-spinner helped put Derbyshire in a position of strength on the first day of their Championship match against Essex at Chelmsford, even though an unbroken eighth-wicket stand of 126 left plenty of work still to do.

Until shortly after tea, Needham occupied the River End for 20 successive overs and that was by far the longest spell he has bowled, in only his 10th first-class game for the county.

Picked in preference to left-armer Nayan Doshi, who had a good Twenty20 tournament, Needham was pleased to have responded well to the faith shown in him and now has his sights set on a first five-wicket haul.

“There have been a few times when I've bowled a session for the seconds but, for the first team, that's definitely the longest I've bowled,” he said.

“It was lovely to get a good long bowl. I'm in the side so that, if Rikki Clarke needs a spinner, I'm there to bowl for as long as he wants me.

“Hopefully, if Rikki decides I'm the one to throw the ball to, I can get at least another one.

“Wayne White always ribs me about him having a five-for and me not, so it would be nice to get one-all.”

Needham's performance was made all the better by the fact that there was not a great deal of turn on the first-day wicket, although that will surely change.

Essex have a habit of preparing pitches that give their Pakistani leg-spinner Danish Kaneria the chance to win them the game and that looks to be the case here again.

“It was pretty good for batting today,” added Needham.

“Charl Langeveldt swung it early on but I didn't get a lot of spin so I just tried to bowl it in reasonable areas and make the batsmen make a mistake.

“One or two turned out of the foot holes outside the left-handers' off stump but off the straight just tended to slip on a bit. There was a nice breeze, which helped me drift it a bit, but that was it.

“It looks a pretty dry wicket and, on days three and four, it should certainly spin more.

“Kaneria can spin it on most surfaces, I reckon, and he is certainly a class act, so we are going to have to have our wits about us to play him as positively as we can.”

Needham will also have a part to play in the second innings and will be assisted by occasional off-spinner Greg Smith, who returned to bowling for the first time since injuring his arm in the opening game of the season in April.

Needham will take on the challenge full of confidence that he can go on to cement his place in the side.

“I've had a sustained run in the side in the last six weeks,” he said.

“It was nice to be a part of it in the win against Worcestershire, so, from a personal point of view, long may it continue, with the team winning and me being in the 11.”