England batsman Paul Collingwood has shrugged off Shane Warne's prediction of an Australia whitewash in the Ashes and insists the tourists could be in for a shock.
Collingwood was part of the England side that won back the Ashes in 2005, coming in for the fifth Test, before being part of the team who meekly surrendered Down Under in the 2006-07 series.
Australia won that series 5-0 and Warne this week suggested a repeat could be on the cards in England, but Collingwood does not agree with the leg-spinning legend.
"It's the normal 'verbals' that seem to go on nowadays," he told Sky Sports News.
"We know where we need to be as a team."
"We believe we're certainly pulling in the right direction."
"If we can get everybody fit and raring to go and playing well, when the Ashes come around we're going to be a very, very hard team to beat."
With Kevin Pietersen now captaining the side, after Michael Vaughan stood down from the job, England is in the early stages of a new era.
If Pietersen can maintain his magnificent batting form, and the rest of the team respond to their new leader, England could have a prosperous winter.
With tours of India and West Indies ahead, Collingwood believes England can go into both series with plenty of optimism - particularly after it beat South Africa in the final Test of the summer and then crushed the Proteas in the one-day series.
"When we're on song we can beat anybody," he said. "It's just getting that consistency."
"It was a great end to the season; it gave everybody a buzz."
"It was a big lift there and if you've got the likes of Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff fit and the way they are, we're going to be a very hard team to beat."
Collingwood added: "It's really exciting times for us and we're looking forward to the challenges ahead."
England has one eye on the Stanford Twenty20 match, scheduled for November 1, but the pre-Christmas India tour is also looming.
"We've got the spin mats out and we're playing against plenty of the slow bowlers," said Collingwood.
"Hopefully we can take that preparation to India and make a good start."
"It is a massive series. I've played out there a few times and it's a really tough place to play."
"All the boys are really excited, really looking forward to it."
"It's been a fresh start and we've had a couple of good wins under our belt but that's only the start."
As for the Stanford match, and the approximate 500,000 pounds which is likely to be up for grabs for each player on the winning team, Collingwood said: "You don't know how you're going to react."
"It's going to be interesting, it's going to be certainly a good spectacle."
He added: "I'm sure there will be a lot of pressure on the day."