England take on Australia in 2nd Ashest Test on Dec 4 at the Gabba, Brisbane
Australia lead the series 1-0 after winning 1st Test by eight wickets in Perth
England have announced their playing XI with Will Jacks replacing injured Mark Wood
Ben Stokes has no qualms about England's ability to respond after falling 1-0 down to Australia in the Ashes, saying the tourists have adopted the right mentality ahead of the second Test in Brisbane.
England travel to the Gabba hoping to level the series after they were beaten inside two days of play in the opener in Perth.
Australia have now won the opening Test in each of the last five Ashes series, and only once this century has a team recovered from falling 1-0 down to win the urn, with Australia doing so in England in 2005.
Australia are also undefeated in their last nine Tests against England at the Gabba, winning seven and drawing two since their most recent such loss, in November 1986.
But Stokes says he and his team-mates are not feeling the pressure and are approaching the next match full of positivity.
"I think mindset is everything when it comes to sport in general," Stokes told reporters on the eve of day one.
"When you are put in all types of situations, as long as your mind is clear on what you are going out there to try to do, that is the most important thing.
"I have got complete trust in the players we have selected to go out there with the mentality that they can influence the game in the right way for us.
"Sometimes it doesn't always work out that way. We addressed last week, we assessed certain moments in that game, and we definitely take some lessons from last week.
"It is a chance for us this week to do what we want to do, and that is win the Ashes."
Bowlers have a collective bowling strike rate of 74.1 at the Gabba across Ashes series, the second-highest rate of any venue to host a match, behind the Adelaide Oval (80.7).
However, bowlers have started to improve at the venue in more recent Tests, as only three of the last nine Ashes innings in Brisbane have seen the batting team score 300+ runs.
England have refreshed their bowling attack ahead of the game, with Will Jacks coming in for Mark Wood.
Wood has been battling a knee issue and had to skip England's first training session in Brisbane, but the selection of Jacks – whose only two Test appearances came on the 2022 tour of Pakistan – is still a surprise.
But Stokes expects the off-spinner, who claimed a memorable five-for on his red-ball debut three years ago, to make an impact.
"Since coming into the squad in Pakistan and starting off very, very well, he has turned himself into a cricketer that I always thought he could be," Stokes said.
"He is incredibly talented, and he has gone from strength to strength. You try and leave yourself as much time as you can to come up with different angles for an 11.
"We tried to look at how we thought spin was going to be used, so there is the tactical element to it, then Jacks' ability with the bat down the order for us is useful as well."
