Freddie ready to pressure Australia

Despite a man-of-the-match performance in the hosts' second Test victory at Lord's, Flintoff has been struggling with a persistent knee problem which threatens to curtail his final series. In an attempt to be ready to take part when action gets under way at Edgbaston on Thursday, the Lancastrian has been sleeping with a special compression machine on his troublesome joint.

And Flintoff believes he will be able to face the Australians in Birmingham. "After the Test match [at Lord's] last week my knee was a bit sore but I've been icing it and getting treatment from [Lancashire physio] Dave Roberts," he told talkSPORT.

"I've been in the gym and have to prove my fitness at training.

"After every session I've been icing it and now I have this machine that I put on [the knee] every night.

"It gets in the way a little bit. It wraps around my knee and it compresses it, half an hour on, half an hour off, throughout the night."

He added: "Last week I bowled in some discomfort. But I managed to bowl my overs and get through.

"I managed to bowl at a decent pace so I'll hopefully prove that I'm fine and hopefully the weather will keep away on Thursday at Edgbaston."

Flintoff also denied claims that he might be forced to miss the fourth Test, which starts four days after the third one finishes, in order to be ready for a potentially crucial fifth and final match.

"I said before the Lord's Test that we had four [Test matches] to go and I intended to play every one of them," he said.