World Cup: England captain Eoin Morgan defended by Ashley Giles

Former England limited overs head coach Ashley Giles has offered his support to Eoin Morgan following another disappointing batting display.

The England captain was out for a six-ball duck in England's 111-run defeat to Australia in their opening World Cup game at the MCG on Saturday.

Morgan has been dismissed without scoring in four of his last five innings against Australia and has recorded four ducks in his last eight ODIs, although he has scored a century against the Aussies in that poor run.

That has led to criticism of Morgan by some sections of the media but Giles, who coached England's Twenty20 and ODI teams between 2012 and 2014, believes the skipper will soon return to form.

"He's finding all sorts of different ways to get out," Giles told the BBC.

"Yesterday's dismissal was quite an odd one - trying to pull off the end of the bat and getting caught behind - but I'm pretty confident that Morgs can come through that.

"We need him to as well. We need all the senior players, as he said after the match yesterday, to really stand up and start taking some responsibility.

"We're not going to win a lot of games with the odd guy making a performance.

“You might do that against the minnows, but against the big guys you really need consistent performances throughout the team."

Giles also rejected suggestions Morgan only scores heavily against the lesser nations, pointing out he has a respectable record against Australia.

"I think that's slightly unfair. Morgs' record against Australia, I think he averages about 40,” added Giles.

"He can score against the best sides. His record overall is still pretty strong.

“It's not as good over the last two years but generally he is a guy with a big-match temperament, he's just struggling for form at the moment."

England take on New Zealand in their second World Cup Pool A match. Coverage begins on Friday at 12:30am on Sky Sports World Cup HD.