The English opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with comments from skipper Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
The all-rounder made those words in several interviews following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series versus Australia previously.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, Stokes noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed all the talking in recent 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. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with some skepticism," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain made the "weak men" comment subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad afterwards went on a holiday to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and the upcoming Tests.
Prior to this match, Stokes revealed his players had held "honest" talks and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman stated the messaging from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," noted Crawley. "The focus is just trying to be optimistic, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special entering this game."
Australia Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket on day four was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 in pursuit of a daunting total of 435.
This means, the home team require four wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage after three Tests.
A loss will extend the English team's winless run in this country to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth straight overseas Ashes defeat.
This series will be completed in just 11 days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the modern era.
"It's disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and now we are staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable side. It was always going to be hard touring here to face them. They entered as the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
While the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term place in the side, Pope appears under immense pressure for his position in the Melbourne Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 runs in England's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a lower average.
But, Crawley insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year to be frank."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is talk externally. There is no chat of that nature regarding Pope amongst the players," he finished.
