England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder delivered this message in several interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the third Test, where England are staring at a series loss at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking over the past two days that I required," remarked the England leader.
But, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
Stokes issued his "fragile individuals" observation after his side suffered a loss in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The team subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Before the Adelaide contest, he revealed his team had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay alive in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior three years in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, unchanged," said Crawley. "It's just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – meant the chasing side 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead after three Tests.
A loss would prolong England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes defeat.
The current battle will be completed in only 11 days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when Australia sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been decided more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. They're a very, very good team. It was always going to be tough coming here against them. They were the front-runners coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his immediate place in the side, Ollie Pope looks under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope was out for 17 runs in England's second innings on day four, extending his poor record against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played as many times in the top six in the Ashes and recorded a poorer average.
But, the opener insisted any notion Pope is under the microscope comes from "you guys" – meaning the press – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has produced several excellent innings. This is noise from the outside. There's no discussion like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
