Andrew Strauss believes a dangerous Pakistan will ensure his England side do not let their minds drift ahead to this winter's Ashes during their four-Test series.
England will take part in a Test for the first time in almost two months when they host Pakistan at Trent Bridge tomorrow. They face opponents fresh from a three-wicket win over Australia at Headingley, in a series that is being billed as an indicator towards their Ashes hopes.
"It's a big challenge," Strauss said. "We saw against Australia that the Pakistan side is dangerous one full of talent. They are used to conditions so was don't have that to surprise them.
"We are going to have to be at our best to win it and that's a good thing for us, not only ahead of the Ashes but generally because we want to play at our best and hopefully beat the best.
"In some ways its a precursor because there's a lot of attention towards the Ashes and we can understand that. It's wrong to look at any series and look beyond it.
"All we can do is play well in the series, win the series and go from this series to Australia with a lot of confidence. To start looking at Australia at this stage is not helpful.
"We've been waiting for it for a little bit now; it's probably a step up from Bangladesh and that's what we need."