The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he was not familiar with statements made by captain Stokes about the dressing room not being "weak men".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations following England's defeat in the second match of the Ashes series against the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat with a match to spare, Stokes stated he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the squad.
"I have completed the necessary discussions over the past two days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, after the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he commented: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to his side were beaten in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The England squad afterwards went on a break to Noosa in the gap between the second and third matches.
Prior to this match, he said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the guidance from the captain and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior tenure in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said Crawley. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
Australia Close of Rapid Series Victory
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a crucial three-wicket burst by Australian spinner Lyon.
Lyon's triple strike in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Stokes himself – left England six down for 207 chasing a daunting total of 435 runs.
Consequently, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 lead after three matches played.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – after England losing the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians completed victory in England in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also triumphed in 11 days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"This is disappointing," said Crawley. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and we're staring down the barrel now."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," Crawley added.
"It's been difficult. They're a formidable team. It was always going to be hard touring here against them. They were the front-runners and they've proven why."
Pope's Place Under Scrutiny
Although the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers doubts about his immediate future in the side, Pope appears under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
Across sixteen Ashes knocks, Pope has failed to score a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
A solitary other England player since 1900 – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and recorded a lower average.
However, the opener insisted any notion Pope is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know of his considerable talent," added Crawley. "Ollie has enjoyed a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. It is noise from the outside. There is no discussion of that nature on Ollie amongst the players," he finished.
