England have a perfect opportunity to prove their mental strength in the deciding fifth one-day international against South Africa, according to batting coach Graham Thorpe.
Eoin Morgan's team let a 2-0 series lead slip with back-to-back defeats at Centurion and Johannesburg respectively.
Friday's fourth one-day international at the Wanderers ended agonisingly for England, who lost the game by one wicket after looking set for victory with ten overs remaining.
The two sides meet in a series decider at Cape Town's Newlands stadium on Sunday and former Test batsman Thorpe is expecting a strong response from England.
"You have to stand up and be a man," Thorpe said.
"You've got knocked down; you have to get yourselves back up, dust yourselves down and go again.
"It's mental strength really. We're going to learn even more about this group of lads. You want to see them in pressure situations, because that's when you learn most about them.
"It's an opportunity for them to stand up. Some (of them) might say 'I'm a little bit shy of a few runs in this series so far'. It's a great chance for them to turn round and play a match-winning innings."
England looked well on course to secure an unassailable 3-1 series lead on Sunday, with South Africa struggling on 210-8, chasing 262 with nine overs to go.
However, a magnificent rear-guard knock of 62 off 38 balls by all-rounder Chris Morris guided the Proteas to an unlikely one-wicket victory, which leveled the series at 2-2.
Despite the defeat on Friday, Thorpe says the England squad should remain optimistic.
"You've just got to let it settle," he said.
"It's a disappointed dressing-room, naturally. But we're not 3-1 down; we're not going to a dead rubber.
"The most important thing is to remind the players what they've done well, and just trying to get it into perspective by the time they get on to the field on Sunday.
"Some of them have had a tough night, and will need to be reminded how good they are to go and win the next game which can win us this one-day series.
"They've got a great opportunity to go out there and finish the series on a high, as a match-winner."
One definite positive for England supporters is the fine form of top order batsman, Joe Root. The 25 year-old Yorkshireman has scored two successive centuries, including a brilliant 109 at Johannesburg.
"He's certainly grasped all facets of the game," said Thorpe.
"His tactical nous was on show. When you lose wickets around you quite quickly, you have to be quite astute and keep your cool, to get your team a score on the board.
"He did that fantastically well. I don't think you could have asked him to play a tactically better innings.
"We've got some real ball-strikers in the side, and he's a great foil for them really, for them to play around him at times."