England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments from captain Ben Stokes regarding the dressing room not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in several interviews following England's defeat in the second Ashes series versus the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had let his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," said Stokes.
However, after the opener scored a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" observation after his side suffered a loss in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a holiday to a Queensland resort between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to this match, he said his team had held "raw" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the messaging from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed consistent with their prior three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat going into this Test."
The Hosts Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
The opener's dismissal late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant the chasing side six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
This means, Australia require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage with three matches played.
Defeat will extend England's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes series loss.
This series will be completed in just 11 days of cricket – after England losing the initial matches in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," admitted the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains plenty to play for and we'll definitely view it like that," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be hard touring here against them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his modest returns versus Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and averages just 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is noise externally. There's no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
