(BBC) – England have to respond by being brave, showing trust and eradicating “quite basic” mistakes in the third Ashes Test in Melbourne, says captain Joe Root.

They trail 2-0 in the five-Test series after a 275-run defeat in the day-night second Test in Adelaide followed a nine-wicket loss in Brisbane.
After Adelaide Root said he was “frustrated” that England keep making the same mistakes.

“I expect a response,” Root told BBC Radio 5 Live yesterday.
“I expect everyone to throw everything into this Test match.”

To win the Ashes, England go into the famous Boxing Day Test at the MCG, which starts at 23:30hrs GMT today, needing to win the remaining three games in the series.

Root said the game is a “very special Test match and one that every English player wants to be involved in”, adding it is a “great opportunity to try and create some history and do something special”.

The Boxing Day Test in the 2017 Ashes was drawn, and it is a ground where England have seen some success with two wins in the five Tests prior to that – although the other three were lost.

In his post-match interview after the heavy defeat in Adelaide, Root was critical of his bowlers, saying “we needed to bowl fuller”.
But he also spoke about missed chances in the field – England dropped seven catches in the second Test and have dropped 12 in the series so far – and criticised the batters for not building enough partnerships.

Fast bowler Mark Wood, who did not feature in the second Test, said on Wednesday that England had had a “brutally honest conversation” and were given “a kick up the bum”, something batter Dawid Malan said was needed.

“We’ve addressed it as a group,” said Root. “We spoke and had a very honest discussion at the end of the game. It was quite clear where we need to make improvements.

“I’m not someone that’s going to stand there and make excuses (about the lack of preparation). The fact is: mistakes that we’ve made have been … I don’t think they’ve been intricate little things, they’ve been quite basic ones.

“In many ways, there’s nothing to lose. We have to go out there and win. And I’ve got a sense that everyone’s in the right frame of mind to do that.”

England resumed the final day of the second Test on 82-4 but managed to take the game into the final session, with Jos Buttler surviving 207 balls for his 26 runs, and Root said England need to show that sort of attitude and “harness it for five days”.

He added that his side are “more than capable of doing that, we just need to go and deliver it”.