James Anderson believes England can still win the opening Ashes Test despite Australia's batsmen dominating the last two days to move into an ominous lead in Cardiff.

Having allowed England to reach an imposing first-innings total of 435, Australia have responded with centuries from Simon Katich and Ricky Ponting and will resume today's fourth morning 44 runs ahead on 479 for five.

"We've got a big session first thing this morning which will probably decide whether we can win the game or not," said Lancashire seamer Anderson, who claimed the scalps of Katich and Michael Hussey before lunch on Friday. "We'll have to work out how we can get those last five wickets pretty quickly, but we certainly believe we can still win."

He added: "A lot's been made of them not being a strong side, but they've just come from a series win in South Africa so we've not thought that for one minute.

"We've given them the respect they deserve. They played well, they made it hard for us but we will keep fighting."

England have now been in the field for 139 overs spread over two days with all five major bowlers - Anderson, Stuart Broad, Andrew Flintoff, Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar - having bowled more than 20 overs apiece.

But Anderson has rejected the suggestion that fatigue could have been a factor in their display, insisting: "I hope not two days into an Ashes series - we're feeling pretty fresh because you're going to get long days in Test cricket so we'll recover well."

Australia, who lost vice-captain Michael Clarke for 83 shortly before the close for bad light despite floodlights being used for a Test in Britain for the first time, are also confident they can force a victory in the final two days.

"If the rain stays away I definitely believe we can get a result," said Clarke.