Monday 3 August 2015 08:32, UK
Trevor Bayliss is challenging England to break their run of inconsistency and complete an Ashes series victory at Trent Bridge.
England went 2-1 up against Australia on Friday and will regain the urn if they add a second successive win to their eight-wicket success at Edgbaston when they travel to Nottingham next Thursday.
Alastair Cook's men are, however, also officially the most inconsistent team there has ever been in Test cricket - having followed each of their last three victories with a defeat, dating back to the Caribbean four months ago.
Should they do so for a fourth time, the series will be all square and go down to a decider at The Oval later this month.
New head coach Bayliss has reason to hope, after a convincing performance in a hectic three-day Test in Birmingham, that they may be able to break the sequence against his native country.
"The way the boys are playing at the moment is very good - obviously the challenge is to play as well two games in a row," he said.
The way the boys are playing at the moment is very good - obviously the challenge is to play as well two games in a row
"Apart from the three or four experienced boys in this team, we have got a reasonably young team.
"Some of the Australians will be under pressure, as we were in this game, and we hope we will be able to build on that pressure in the next match and not let them up off the floor."
England's No 1 target will be Australia captain Michael Clarke - who has made just 94 runs in six innings and admits he has been letting his team down.
Bayliss believes it would be tempting fate, though, to publicly write off the summer for a batsman who still averages almost 50 and has made 28 Test centuries.
"Michael has had a long career and had a few runs of form like this in the past, and he's come back from them," Bayliss said.
"The last thing I want to do or England want to do is forecast his demise - because that's just giving him ammunition to come out and score a heap of runs. He is a guy with plenty of experience and lot of Test runs behind him - we are certainly not taking him lightly."
James Anderson, who strained his side on day two of England's latest win, will miss the fourth Test and could be replaced by Mark Wood.
Wood was rested with an ankle niggle, in favour of Steven Finn at Edgbaston, where the recalled seamer was man-of-the-match with an eight-wicket haul.
The likelihood is that Wood will return to the XI for Anderson, despite Liam Plunkett and the uncapped Mark Footitt also being included in England's 14-man squad.
Bayliss added: "I'd like to see Mark Wood take the new ball. Our bowling coach Ottis Gibson thinks if we get an opportunity we should give him the new ball, because he has been quite dangerous with the new ball with his county team."
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