Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews believes the weather rather than his side’s inexperience will be the tourists' biggest challenge in their forthcoming Test series against England.
Sri Lanka meet England in three Test matches, beginning at Yorkshire's Headingley ground on Thursday, May 19, live on Sky Sports.
But the Lions are no longer able to call upon Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene following the pair's retirement and have named uncapped duo Dasun Shanaka and Dhananjaya de Silva as part of their 17-man Test squad.
"The main challenge is going to be the weather for us initially. We're preparing ourselves as well as we possibly can," Mathews said.
"Yes we don't have Sangakkara and Mahela anymore, that we had in 2014, but we've got to move on, we've got to take on the challenge. I believe we can still win if we play to our potential.
"Most of the players haven't played that much cricket in England, it's going to be the first time for most of them. But we're trying to acclimatise as soon as possible.
"We've got some fearless players in our side and that can be a plus for us. We'll have to play really good cricket to beat England though."
Mathews smashed 160 the last time the two sides met at Headingley in 2014, with tailender James Anderson dismissed with the penultimate ball of the match as Sri Lanka claimed a 100-run victory, clinching their first Test series win in England.
"The 2014 series is one moment we'll cherish for the rest of our lives," he said. "We'd never won a Test series here before, so to do that was fantastic.
"If we can repeat that once again it would be ideal. It's going to be a tough challenge."
Sri Lanka have coach Graham Ford back for a second stint with the national side after the South African cut short his time with Surrey to rejoin the team.
"It was a really tough decision but nice to be back with the Sri Lankan boys and experience the wonderful fighting attitude that they have and their passion for the game," Ford said.
"I think, first and foremost we are here to try to win the Test series and I believe we can do that."
But with England having won the Ashes at home and triumphed in a Test series in South Africa in the past year, Ford expects a tough contest.
He said: "They have played fantastic cricket for a while now. They surprised some people in winning the Ashes convincingly but that certainly sent out a message as to what a good team they are. They played very well in South Africa too.
"But there's no better way to grow a young team than to play against a really good outfit."
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