England skipper Joe Root was on Friday dismissive about rumours circulating that he might lose his captaincy after the Ashes series here, saying that he was only worried about winning the next game at the MCG, commencing on December 26.
The tourists are 0-2 down in the five-Test series and the hopes of regaining the urn are fading as the team figures out its winning combination after losing the opening Test at the Gabba by nine wickets and the second Test at the Adelaide Oval by 275 run.
During a media interaction on Christmas eve, Root said, "The only thing I'm worried about is winning. "Starting well (in Melbourne) and making sure we get that first hour right. It's hard to look beyond that at the minute."
The captain also clarified his comment post the Adelaide loss where he had blamed the pacemen, especially Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson and Ben Stokes, for fruitlessly bowling a barrage of short-pitched deliveries, even though he himself had set the field for them to bowl the short stuff.
"I do think on occasions we got that slightly wrong," Root was quoted as saying by sen.com.au.
"It's not something you can fault our bowlers on too often, because they are exceptional. It's not about singling players out or trying to put blame on one department of our group, collectively we weren't good enough."
The captain also said that the changes in the playing XI for the Boxing Day Test would not be a reflection of a lack of trust or a loss of faith in some players.
"The most important thing is we pick a team that we think is going to win. If that's a couple of changes, so be it. If not, so be it."