England captain Jos Buttler accepted Chris Woakes's form with the new ball was a major concern heading into the faltering champions' key World Cup clash against South Africa on Saturday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
England's title defence in India is in deep trouble after a shock defeat by Afghanistan left them with a single win to their name.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Woakes has taken just two wickets across England's first three games at a hugely expensive average of 67.5<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The 34-year-old seam-bowling all-rounder has struggled to make an impact on Indian pitches and went wicketless during a stunning 69-run loss to Afghanistan in Delhi on Sunday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"He's been a fantastic performer for an incredibly long time for England in all the formats and especially in one-day cricket," said Buttler of Woakes during a pre-match press conference in Mumbai on Friday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"And we're all honest guys, right? We're all honest professionals who hold each other to high standards and individually expect a lot of ourselves. He knows he's not performing quite how he would like to at the minute and that's frustrating."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
With Ben Stokes declaring himself fit for the first time this tournament following a hip problem, someone will have to make way.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But Buttler was at pains to stress the axe had yet to fall on Woakes, a veteran of 117 one-day internationals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"We always back all our players that are in our team -- we picked them for a number of reasons and one because they're high-class players and he (Woakes) is certainly one of those."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Turning to Test captain Stokes, one of the stars of England's 2019 World Cup triumph, Buttler said: "Ben trained really well last night. It's great to see him back.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"He obviously brings a lot on the field and with his presence and leadership skills as well as someone who is always good to turn to."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
South Africa too will arrive at the Wankhede Stadium on the back of an embarrassing loss following a 38-run defeat by the Netherlands, the non-Test nation inflicting fresh pain on the Proteas after knocking them out of last year's Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Buttler, having lauded South Africa's "strong top six" and fast-bowling depth, admitted he had been as taken aback as anyone by Tuesday's result in Dharamsala.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I think you're always surprised when those kind of things happen," he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n