England captain Andrew Flintoff said his young team were still upbeat despite their dire situation in the opening Ashes Test against Australia.
England could hardly have made a worse start to their Ashes defence after slumping to 53 for three in reply to Australia's massive 602 for nine declared at stumps on the second day at the Gabba on Friday.
Flintoff admitted the tourists faced an uphill battle saving the first Test but said his team had not given up hope and spirits remained high.
"There's a lot character in the side and the side are looking to the challenge of this series," Flintoff told a news conference.
"They're not deflated, it's just the first two days of the series and we just have to get better.
"You never want to lose quick wickets but that happened and we just have to get on with it now and just have to bat well."
Flintoff said the enormous hype surrounding the series had contributed to his team's nervous start but the players had already learnt a lot from the past two days.
"Going into a series like this, you have to expect a few nerves knocking around," he said.
"It's a young side, and turning up and playing game of the magnitude of this, there will be nerves around, but the lads have experienced that now so they know what to expect for the rest of the game.
TOUGH AUSSIES
"We've played against them before and we know Australia do come hard at you. That's something we expected and that's something that they've done."
Flintoff also admitted strike bowler Steve Harmison had played well below his best, finishing with 1-123 from 30 overs, but was confident he would find his rhythm in time to make an impact.
"I think it's fair to say Steve's not been at his best in this game and he'd be the first to admit that," the skipper said.
"It's not from a lack of trying or effort, he's giving it everything he's got, and I thought he got better throughout the innings and bowled well in patches.
"When you're not doing quite well it does knock your confidence a bit and Harmy's just striving to get back to his best."
Flintoff said he was encouraged by the return from injury of left-arm spinner Ashley Giles and the defiant batting of Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen, who survived a torrid final half hour before the close of play.
"It's been two hard days, Australia played well, but I thought we stuck at it and in patches we did alright," Flintoff said.
"Matthew Hoggard came back and bowled well, Ashley Giles for the first Test match in a year I thought he bowled brilliant, so there are some encouraging signs but it's fair to say tomorrow we have to bat well
"Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen were quite positive at the crease this evening and hopefully tomorrow they can put on a big partnership. We need a couple of big partnerships and a few small ones to get us up to a decent score."
