England opener Zak Crawley has indicated he was not familiar with comments made by captain Stokes about the team environment as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made those words in several interviews following England's loss in the second Ashes series against the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England are staring at a series loss with a match to spare, the captain noted he had let his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, following the opener made a knock of 85 on the fourth day in the third Test, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side were beaten in Brisbane to fall 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third Tests.
Before this match, he revealed his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their previous tenure in charge.
"It's been very positive, unchanged," noted the opener. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
Australia On the Verge of Rapid Ashes Triumph
The opener's wicket on day four came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – meant England six down for 207 chasing a notional target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team require four wickets on Sunday's last day to secure an insurmountable 3-0 advantage after three Tests.
A loss would prolong the English team's winless run in Australia to 18 Tests and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
The current battle is set to be decided in just 11 days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in two and four days each.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been decided so quickly. The hosts have also won in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said the batsman. "We came here to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been tough. Australia is a formidable team. It was inevitably tough coming here against them. They were the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While Crawley's innings in the third Test likely secures questions about his short-term place in the side, Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman fell for 17 in the team's second innings on day four, adding to his poor record versus Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman in over a century – Amiss – has played as many times in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
But, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – referring to the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is noise externally. There's no chat of that nature on Ollie in the camp," he finished.
