Sunday 10 January 2016 06:57, UK
Chris Woakes insists all the pressure is on South Africa ahead of the third Test in Johannesburg.
England lead the four-Test series 1-0 following the draw in Cape Town last week, although the Proteas produced their best team batting performance in over a year to press for an unlikely victory that had seemed near-impossible after two days.
They have since changed captain with Hashim Amla making way for AB de Villiers, but all-rounder Woakes agrees with Sir Ian Botham in believing England still hold the advantage as they prepare to meet again on January 14.
"Joburg is set up nicely but I still think we're in a great position being 1-0 up," said Woakes.
"They have to win both to win this series. As long as we play the kind of cricket we have been so far, then fingers crossed we can't lose the series
"Obviously that's possible but the way we've been playing I can't see it happening. Winning the toss would be nice because if we start well in Joburg it's a long way back for the South Africans."
Woakes said Amla's resignation was not a surprise to the England players with de Villiers already a vocal influence on the field.
"It's not a surprise that he's stepped down, that's the best way to put it," added Woakes.
"When I was on the field in Durban you could feel Amla probably wasn't leading the side as much as a normal captain does, as much as Cooky (Alastair Cook) for instance.
"It felt like AB was having an input anyway. So with Amla stepping down I'm not sure how much of a huge difference that will make to them."
Woakes is likely to be confined to a watching brief for the rest of the series after deputising for the injured James Anderson in Durban.
His match figures of 1-53 were modest, although he was left to reflect on Jonny Bairstow dropping the ball after Woakes had drawn the edge of Amla in only his second over.
"Of course that was tough, but that's cricket," he said. "You nick Amla off, take the wicket and who knows what would have happened?
"I'd be lying if I said it wouldn't have been nice to take him because maybe I could have gone on to get a couple more wickets in that spell or later in the game.
"I think I showed my frustration there and then, but no-one means to drop a catch. Although I didn't have the wickets in the column or a huge amount of runs I felt like I did my role pretty well for the team.
"It was great to be involved and to be part of winning the Test match was brilliant."
