We can cope without Flintoff - Strauss - Sport in brief

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Having suffered the major blow after the second Test at Lord's of losing star batsman Pietersen, who has been ruled out of the remainder of the npower series following an Achilles operation, England were relieved Flintoff was able to play his part in the drawn third Test at Edgbaston. But for the second successive Test Flintoff finished the match clearly struggling with his troublesome right knee.

Asked whether England could win the series without Flintoff, captain Andrew Strauss replied: "Yes, I think we can - we've had to plenty of times over the last two years so it wouldn't be anything new to us."

He added: "Generally the bowlers have stepped up when he hasn't played but at the moment he's in great nick with both ball and bat so we don't want to play without him if we can help it.

"We will have to swing with the punches we get and if that is the case then I think we've got a good enough squad to be able to deal with that.

"He's got to be honest about his body and he has been so far. He's obviously desperate to play in these last two games but I think he realises that if he's not fit then he won't help us."

Even without Pietersen, England were still able to claim a 113-run first-innings lead in Birmingham but, despite their best efforts on the final day, Australia battled to a draw with Michael Clarke claiming his 12th century on his 50th Test appearance.

Flintoff bowled only 11 overs during the day and none at all in the final session, but Strauss denied he was attempting to manage his injury to ensure his involvement at Headingley for the fourth Test.

"I suppose at the back of my mind I'm conscious that, when the conditions aren't really helping him, there's no point in tearing him to death and that's the reason he didn't bowl in the final session," explained Strauss.

"We're still very optimistic he'll be okay for Headingley. There is obviously some soreness there. I don't think there's anything that's deteriorated massively over the course of the game, but he needs to rest up well because back-to-back Tests are hard for any bowlers and we'll see how he is on Thursday."