Ben Stokes has conceded his problematic left knee may render him useless with the ball at Headingley, prompting England to play an extra bowler as cover for the must-win Test.

A desperate England confirmed on Wednesday it would make three changes to their team from Lord’s, with Moeen Ali, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes all back.

Top-order batter Ollie Pope is out with injury, while veteran seamer James Anderson has been rested and young quick Josh Tongue dropped.

It had initially been expected Dan Lawrence would come into England’s side as the only back-up batsman in the squad, but the hosts instead opted for bowling all-rounder Woakes.

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The changes leave England with a longer lower order, with Moeen to bat at No.7 and Woakes at No.8 before the bowlers.

That is largely due to concerns over Stokes’ fitness.

The England captain sent down 12 straight overs for England on Saturday at Lord’s, and has been a battling a knee issue for several years.

“I’m not going to lie. Last week took it out of me a bit,” Stokes said.

“A big part of something I had to think of was what would be the best team if I didn’t bowl a ball in a worst-case scenario.

“It doesn’t mean I am not going to bowl, but that is a huge part of the team we picked.”

England has also opted to move Harry Brook up to No.3 in place of Pope, leaving Joe Root to stay at No.4 and Jonny Bairstow moving to No.5 with Stokes staying at No.6.

Root averages 39.67 batting at first drop compared to his career marker of 50.43, while being limited to four centuries in 59 innings in the position.

“When you’ve got a player like Brooky you feel like he could slot into any position,” Stokes said.

“We feel that Brooky is the type of player who will just take the responsibility and just crack on with it.

“We want to keep Joe at No.4, because he’s a remarkable player and Jonny moving up to No.5 was just to get him into the game earlier.

“The things he did last summer in that No.5 position are quite hard to look past.”

Stokes also called for calm over the Bairstow dismissal at Lord’s, telling media it was time to move on from that drama.

But he refused to urge that calm upon the Headingley crowd, despite Australia expecting a harsh reception from what is already one of the most hostile crowds in the country.

“I can’t really say do this or don’t do that. Everyone knows what the atmosphere is like here,” Stokes said.

“We know what it is like in Australia. It will be one of those things where we will have the home support right behind us.”

England squad

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (capt), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad.

-AAP