Anderson backs England to overcome Stokes loss

James Anderson has backed England to come good in the third Test against Pakistan despite the loss of all-rounder Ben Stokes due to injury.

Ben Stokes left the field with a calf injury on the final day at Old Trafford.

England fast bowler James Anderson has backed England to come good in the third Test against Pakistan despite the loss of all-rounder Ben Stokes due to injury. The teams are tied 1-1 are two Tests after England overcame a 75-run loss in the Lord's Test with a 330-run win at Old Trafford.

Stokes, who played the second Test, suffered a calf injury on the final day and was ruled out of the next Test at Edgbaston, which is scheduled to begin on Wednesday.

"(It was) really positive the way we came out of that Old Trafford Test, unfortunate that we lost Ben Stokes in that game to injury but, all in all, just a really strong team performance. He's a big loss, he just adds that balance to the team," Anderson said.

"He can come in at six and him being able to bowl plenty of overs does add that healthy balance to the side. But we've played without him before and coped without him before so we're going to have to do that this week. Hopefully he'll be well on the road to recovery and play at The Oval (the venue for the fourth Test)," he added.

Joe Root's 254 and a hundred from captain Alastair Cook laid the platform for England to bounce back from its 75-run defeat by Pakistan in the first Test at Lord's.

"The batsmen talked about, before the game, showing the character they've got and what they are made of and their skills, which they completely did, led by Joe Root and Cooky," said Anderson. "(It was) just a really strong performance and something that we can hopefully build on in the coming weeks."

(With inputs from agencies)