BIRMINGHAM (UK), July 28: Joe Root is confident England�s latest collapse against an Australia pace attack led by Mitchell Johnson won�t still haunt them come the third Ashes Test at Edgbaston starting tomorrow.
Left-arm fast bowler Johnson took 37 wickets at 14 apiece as Australia thrashed England 5-0 on home soil to regain the Ashes in 2013/14.
Johnson, however, was mocked by England fans while going wicketless during the first innings of Australia�s 169-run defeat in Cardiff in the opening match of the current Ashes campaign.
It was though a very different story in the second Test at Lord�s, where Johnson had match figures of six for 80 during Australia�s crushing 405-run win that levelled the five-match series at 1-1.
England captain Alastair Cook may be in better form than Australia counterpart Michael Clarke but that counted for little as the hosts, with Johnson taking three cheap wickets, slumped to a humiliating 103 all out in their second innings.
But a defiant Root said of Johnson: �It�s wrong to single one man out. You look at Cardiff and he only got two expensive wickets so it�s about putting him under pressure.�
England have responded to their drubbing at Lord�s by dropping Gary Ballance and promoting the experienced Ian Bell � himself struggling for runs � to Ballance�s position of number three, with Jonny Bairstow coming into the side at the expense of his Yorkshire colleague.
Australia left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc was not concerned by England�s attempts to stabilise a top order that has been 43 for three or worse seven times in their past 13 Test innings and promised there would be no let-up from the tourists� pace attack.
�I am sure we will be following suit from what Mitch (Johnson) dished up at the end at Lord�s,� said Starc.
�It is great to see a few of the guys jumping about, and we got a few wickets that way. We have got extra pace in our side.�
This year has seen England bounce back from defeats by the West Indies and New Zealand with a win in their very next Test.
�Throughout this summer we�ve always come back from heavy defeats well,� said Root.
�There�s so much confidence in the camp and we�ll be looking to put them back on the back foot on Wednesday.�
The second Test defeat prompted England�s Australian coach Trevor Bayliss to call for a livelier surface than the one on which England great James Anderson went wicketless at Lord�s.
But Starc was unconcerned by the state of the Edgbaston pitch.
�It doesn�t matter what they dish up, we�ve got all bases covered,� he said.
Bell has scored just one fifty in 12 Test innings since he made a hundred against the West Indies in Antigua three months ago.
In welcoming his promotion to number three, Bell � looking to become the first Warwickshire batsman to score a Test hundred at Edgbaston � said Monday: �I know I haven�t performed to the best of my ability in the last two months.
�It�s a good opportunity to take some responsibility and score some runs.�
Bairstow�s recall for his first Test since he featured at Sydney last year is set to be England�s lone personnel change after fast bowler Mark Wood, who has a history of ankle trouble, came through Monday�s net session.
Bairstow is averaging over a hundred in the County Championship this season, having scored five centuries, but how well that has prepared him to face Australia�s quicks remains to be seen.
Australia, meanwhile, are set to field an unchanged side.
Opener Chris Rogers, who made a Test-best 173 in the first innings, is set to be given the all-clear after a balance problem in the inner ear forced him off the field on the fourth and final day at Lord�s.
Wicket-keeper Peter Nevill is also likely to retain is place after impressing on debut last time out even though Brad Haddin is available again after withdrawing for �family reasons� ahead of the second Test. � AFP