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England head coach Shaun Wane says his team are in "make or break" territory as they approach Saturday's second Ashes Test against Australia needing a victory to keep the series alive.
The former Wigan boss has made three changes to his 19-man matchday squad to face the Kangaroos at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday after a chastening 26-6 defeat in the opening match at Wembley.
Speaking to the media this week, Wane described the loss and subsequent inquest into it as "heartbreaking" for his players and staff.
"I want a team to go out on Saturday and for it to look like a proper Test match," said Wane.
"It didn't look like a Test match to me [at Wembley]. It wasn't physical - they were better in many areas, so this week has to look like a real Test match and we need to give a better account of ourselves.
"This is make or break. We've got one game left. That's the way I look at it and you don't want go into the third game having lost two."
England are searching for continuity in certain areas and the right blend to be more competitive in others.
Saturday's second Test - which is sold out - kicks off at 14:30 GMT, and is live on BBC One, the iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.
BBC Sport looks at the big decisions Wane has faced this week for a crunch encounter with the world champions.
Wane's biggest challenge has been to find a way to strike the right balance between the Super League and NRL players at his disposal, while considering what personnel and positional changes to implement.
The 61-year-old has repeatedly talked about players having credit in the bank at international level from the World Cup in 2022 and from series triumphs over Tonga and Samoa over the past two years.
In the face of significant criticism,, external notably from Kangaroos legend Laurie Daley, Wane defended Jack Welsby staunchly earlier this week and suggested that he expected him to "bounce back strong" from an out-of-sorts display in London.
But the omission of the versatile St Helens star suggests that AJ Brimson, who switched his international allegiance from Australia to England in May, will line up at full-back.
The inclusion of the 27-year-old, whose mother is from south London and who has two brothers who were born in Chertsey, was mooted during Wane's news conference immediately after the first Test.
While Australia were able to make make several significant long-range breaks and key attacking metres, thanks largely to Reece Walsh's contributions, England failed to make any real inroads from kick returns.
Brimson's pace and support play, plus his experience of playing against Australia's stars for the Gold Coast Titans and Queensland, is an obvious attraction and it is hoped that could add a new dimension to England's attack.
"The way AJ has trained and what he brings to a team has been outstanding. I'm excited to see him," added Wane, who has been accused of favouring Super League players over those based in Australia's premier competition.
"People in the room know what our players are capable of. The NRL people don't yet and that hurts me.
"I will feel better on Saturday if we have a go at them and attack the way we can attack and defend as physical as possible, which we didn't do last weekend.
"We got beat in a Test match. We got beat badly. It is part of being a head coach, I've had it [criticism] all my life. It doesn't bother me in the slightest."
One of the big talking points in the build-up to the Ashes was Wane's decision to exclude Super League's Man of Steel winner Jake Connor from his 24-man squad.
However, even without Connor, there was already the problem that three did not go into two, with captain George Williams, Wigan's Harry Smith and Hull KR's Mikey Lewis vying for spots in the halves.
Lewis, who was man of the match in the Super League Grand Final, was given a starting berth alongside Warrington's Williams in the series opener but struggled to make anything like the same impact.
Yet with Wane suggesting that he wants England to end their sets better, Smith looks set to occupy the traditional number seven role.
Smith's game management and kicking ability would be an obvious fix to some rather scruffy and disjointed play that did not allow England to build any pressure in the first Test.
However, that does not mean that Lewis will be sitting in the stands.
The 24-year-old featured with Smith against Tonga and was among the interchanges against Samoa in a replacement hooker role, where he could be deployed again with his club-mate Jez Litten lined up for the starting number nine berth.
That means Daryl Clark, who started scored England's one and only try late on, could miss out altogether.
Meanwhile, Morgan Smithies, who starred as Canberra Raiders won the NRL Minor Premiership, and a rejuvenated Kallum Watkins appear to be straight swaps for Ethan Havard and the injured John Bateman.
