The English opener Zak Crawley has indicated he had no knowledge of comments made by captain Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes made this message in several interviews following England's loss in the second Ashes series against the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors now face a series loss at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had let his message to "circulate freely" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," remarked Stokes.
But, following Crawley scored 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. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
Stokes issued his "weak men" comment subsequent to England were beaten in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Prior to this match, Stokes said his players had held "honest" talks and he had asked them to "display some fight" in their effort to stay alive in the series.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had remained consistent with their prior tenure in leadership.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said the opener. "It's just trying to be optimistic, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we could do something special entering this Test."
The Hosts Close of Historic Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal on day four came during a decisive triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
Lyon's three wickets in 20 deliveries – including the wickets of Brook and Stokes himself – left England 207-6 in pursuit of a daunting target of 435 runs.
This means, the home team need four wickets on Sunday's final day to move to an unassailable three-nil advantage after three matches played.
Defeat will extend the English team's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle will be completed in just eleven days of play – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time each.
The last time 1921, when Australia completed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined more swiftly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other occasions in the 21st century.
"It's disheartening," said Crawley. "Our goal was to win the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we'll certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good side. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They were the favourites coming in to it they've proven why."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While the opener's performance in the third Test likely secures doubts about his short-term future in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second innings on Saturday, extending his poor record against the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, Pope has never made a fifty and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in Ashes Tests and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley said any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "you guys" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"The squad is fully aware how good of a player he is," said he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. It is talk from the outside. There's no chat like that regarding Pope amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
