With Ashes series on the line, time for England to show fire in belly

New Delhi: England skipper Ben Stokes has demanded his players to show courage in order to fight back from two losses in the third Ashes Test in Adelaide from Wednesday.

The tourists slumped to eight wicket defeats in the series opener in Perth under two days and in day-nighter in Brisbane inside four days.

They need to win the third Test at Adelaide Oval to retain hopes of winning back the Ashes urn as anything less than that would mean a failed campaign with two matches of the five-Test series to spare.

In such a backdrop, Stokes called for his teammates to "show a bit of dog", insisting that the English dressing room is "no place for weak men".

"It's just trying to fight in every situation that you find yourself in and understanding the situation and what you feel is required for your team. Just look at your opposition every single time and show a bit of dog. That's fight to me," Stokes said.

"As long as you go out there and everyone is in that mindset around the situation and what is needed, you're giving yourself the best possible chance if you've got a bit of dog in you."

For inspiration they don’t have to look far as they had showed the sought fighting spirit in theit third Test against India in July, when they rebounded from a loss with a 22-run victory at Lord's.

"That was a moment where we all did that, we all noticed and we all identified that moment," he said.

"You saw the way the team came out on that day. We were probably in a situation where we would have to be absolutely perfect to win that game, and we were.

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"The main thing is, we're 2-0 down. We need to win the next three."

In nearly 150 years of Test cricket, only one team has overturned a 2-0 deficit to win a series - Don Bradman's Australia in the home Ashes