England great Michael Vaughan believes the struggling tourists may need to get "nasty" in order to show their true potential in Test cricket.
Following a nail-biting fourth Test which saw England amass a drawn result with one wicket remaining, hope has begun to blossom in the visitor's camp ahead of the final Test of the summer in Hobart on Friday.
England's woes were combatted by middle-order batsman Jonny Bairstow digging his heels in to score a gritty first-innings century and set his nation up for a dramatic finish.
Having avoided the chance of a 5-0 whitewash, England are now looking to go one better and cause upset in the Apple Isle following a tumultuous month down under.
A more tenacious attitude in Sydney looked to be what boded well for the touring side, with Bairstow and Ben Stokes playing through injury and coming up against plenty of challenges - both on and off the pitch.
Having shown some fightback in last week's Test, Vaughan believes England must do more if they want to avoid a winless Test run in Australia, suggesting the Poms must find "a bit of bite".
“I think England are a better team when there's a bit of bite in that team,” Vaughan said, via Fox Sports.
“I'm not saying chirp, but a bit of rivalry, a little bit of heated debate, the situation when Bairstow and Stokes had a bit of fruit from the crowd.
The Sydney Test has been marred by crowd abuse for the second year in a row, with England stars Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow reacting angrily after being sledged on Friday. Read the full story: https://t.co/OkOsCV7vuW pic.twitter.com/4FdamS2BCA
— The Sydney Morning Herald (@smh) January 7, 2022
“People don't like it when you say you want them to be a bit nasty, but I think England plays better when their backs are against the wall.
“They're the kind of spirited performances we've seen this week in the light of 36-4, England had to come out and fight and they did.
“My old coach Duncan Fletcher used the terminology that you need to show some dog fight, and this week I've seen England show some dog fight.
“They've shown dog fight and this week that's what they've shown, but it has to be consistent that the England team show dog fight every week, every Test match is scrap.”
Having seen a series-best performance from opener Zak Crawley, as well as a more defined attack from bowling pair Stuart Broad and Jack Leach, England are in greater stead ahead of their Ashes finale.
They will be nervously waiting on further medical assessment for both Bairstow and Stokes ahead of Friday's Test at Bellerive Oval however, while wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has flown home to the UK following a finger injury of his own.
The list of casualties from the Sydney Test have opened up an opportunity for Sam Billings to potentially pull on the gloves in Hobart and make his Test debut.
