England v Pakistan: James Anderson rues Ben Stokes absence

James Anderson admits England will miss Ben Stokes in the third Test against Pakistan at Edgbaston which starts on Wednesday.

But the fast bowler believes they have the ability and experience to manage without the injured all-rounder.

The teams go into the Birmingham clash locked at 1-1, after the hosts levelled the series with a dominant 330-run win at Old Trafford.

The victory was marred slightly by the calf problem sustained by Stokes, which looks to have ruled him out of the rest of the series.

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Anderson said: "It was really positive the way we came out of that Old Trafford Test, unfortunate that we lost Ben Stokes in that game to injury but, all in all, just a really strong team performance," Anderson said.

"He's a big loss, he just adds that balance to the team.

"He can come in at six and him being able to bowl plenty of overs does add that healthy balance to the side.

"But we've played without him before and coped without him before so we're going to have to do that this week. Hopefully he'll be well on the road to recovery and play at the Oval."

A career-best 254 from Joe Root led England to victory in Manchester and Anderson feels the team's impressive performance can act as a springboard to help them secure a series victory following the final Test at the Oval later this month.

England's record Test wicket-taker added: "The batsmen talked about, before the game, showing the character they've got and what they are made of and their skills, which they completely did, led by Joe Root and Cooky [Alastair Cook].

"It was just a really strong performance and something that we can hopefully build on in the coming weeks."

Watch England take on Pakistan in the third Test live on Sky Sports 2 this Wednesday from 10am.