Andrew Strauss backs Stuart Broad to get back to his best

England captain Andrew Strauss says he has faith that bowler Stuart Broad will get back to his best as the pair prepare to take to the field for the final npower Test against Sri Lanka, reports Sky Sports.

Broad is attempting to play himself back into form and cement his place in the England side after injury disrupted his winter.

But with figures of 2-154 in the second Test and competition for places strong in the England attack, Broad heads to the Rose Bowl knowing he needs a good performance to keep his place in the team.

Captain Strauss gave his backing to the bowler, despite admitting the figures were disappointing.

He said: "We always want our bowlers to be taking a lot of wickets, so in that sense it is.

"But he has done a lot of good things - he has passed the bat a lot.

"The fact of the matter is we have a good squad of bowlers and they are all being pushed hard to keep improving.

"You have to realise that sometimes one guy will get all the wickets when another guy bowls better, so you have to look a little bit beyond how many wickets a guy has taken and look at how many balls they got in the right area - and that sort of stuff."

The England attack will be bolstered from that which struggled in the Lord's stalemate by the return of fit-again James Anderson.

Strauss continued: "You're not going to play the perfect Test match every time. It's unrealistic to expect that.

"In some ways, the fact that our bowling performance was a little bit down at Lord's is more of a reflection on how good it's been over the last 18 months.

"We've just come to expect bowlers to run in and put it on the spot consistently every time they bowl."