England opener Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by captain Ben Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
The all-rounder made this message in several interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes against the Australians earlier this month.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" within the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions over the past two days that I needed to have done," said the England leader.
However, after Crawley made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I didn't see that."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. We take anything stated in the press with a pinch of salt," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" observation subsequent to England suffered a loss in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards took a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third Tests.
Prior to this match, Stokes said his players had held "raw" conversations and he had asked them to "show a bit of dog" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach McCullum had stayed consistent with their previous tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do something special going into this Test."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
The opener's wicket late on Saturday was part of a crucial triple-strike by Australian spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Ben Stokes – left England six down for 207 chasing a notional total of 435.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on the final day to move to an unassailable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.
A loss will extend England's drought in Australia to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth successive overseas Ashes loss.
This series will be completed in only eleven days of play – after England fell the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed a series win in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it with that mindset," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They were the front-runners and have demonstrated their quality."
Pope's Place In Question
Although the opener's performance in Adelaide likely secures doubts about his immediate future in the side, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 runs in England's second knock on day four, extending his modest returns versus the old enemy.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other England player in over a century – Amiss – has featured as many times in the top six in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley said any suggestion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – referring to the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has produced some really good knocks. This is talk from the outside. There's no chat like that regarding Pope in the camp," he concluded.
