Derbyshire will have to rewrite the record books if they are to beat an injury-hit Surrey side in their LV County Championship Division Two match at Chesterfield.

The home side closed on 136 for one and needing another 272 to reach a victory target of 408, but have never scored 400 in the fourth innings of a match.

Surrey should still be favourites to win their second championship match of the season but they have already lost seamer Tim Linley with a damaged right foot and South African fast bowler Andre Nel and spinner Gareth Batty are carrying injuries.

Nel had clutched the back of his right leg while top scoring with 35 during Surrey's second innings of 253, in which Mark Ramprakash narrowly failed to become the first player in the country to score 1,000 runs.

The former England batsman began the third day needing only 17 to achieve the milestone for the 20th time in his career but he added only six to his overnight 24.

Ramprakash had just forced Tom Lungley through the covers for four but then dabbed at a wide ball from the seamer and was caught at first slip by Chris Rogers, another player close to 1,000 runs.

His dismissal set the tone for the innings as all the Surrey batsman got a start but no-one went on to play a major innings on a pitch starting to show signs of uneven bounce.

Usman Afzaal and Younus Khan were starting to take control during a fourth-wicket stand of 56 but they were out in the space of three overs just before lunch.

Afzaal edged Robin Peterson's arm ball to slip on 26 and when Younus was lbw pushing forward to Greg Smith for 30, Surrey were 127 for five - only 281 in front.

The lower order all contributed and Linley arrived back from a hospital scan in time to go out with a runner and help stretch the lead to 407.

History was against Derbyshire when Rogers and Wayne Madsen started the chase after tea because the highest ever fourth innings score at Queen's Park was 336 against the Australians in 1968.

Derbyshire's biggest total in the last innings of a match is 396 - at Leicester three years ago - but the sight of Nel taking the new ball off four paces would have lifted the home dressing room.

Nel was restricted by a tight hamstring and Batty was handicapped by an ankle ligament problem although the off-spinner did claim the vital wicket of Rogers who started as thought he was determined to score the 121 he needed to reach 1,000 before stumps.

He got 33 of them before he edged Batty to slip but Surrey could not build on that as Madsen added an unbeaten 55 to his first-innings century.

With Garry Park, he shared an unbroken stand of 91 in 24 overs and has set up what promises to be a fascinating, and possibly history-making last day.