Mark Wood believes England are entering the upcoming Ashes series with “more confidence” compared to their last trip to Australia.

England lost the series 4-0 when they went Down Under at the end of 2021, which led to the appointment of the current leadership combination of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes.

England have not won the Ashes since 2015, while they failed to succeed in Australia since 2011, losing the last three tours by a margin of 5-0, 4-0 and 4-0, respectively.

However, Wood, who returns from injury for the series, is confident England can cause an upset this time around as they follow an “Australia blueprint”.

“I can truly say there's a quiet confidence within the group,” Wood told the Guardian.

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“It's a different feel this time. Last time we had COVID-19 and problems behind the scenes.

“Under this coach and this captain there's a specific way of playing and we're going with more confidence and belief.

“It's about having a collection of bowlers who can come in if anyone needs resting or there are injuries.

“We want a battery of fast bowlers and we've tried to change from the norm of England, where there are lots of seamers, to Australia's vision of fast bowling. Look at Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

“They can all bowl at 90 [mph] or in the high 80s and they've been especially consistent and relentless.

“So we're going there with a bit of an Australia blueprint to see if we can replicate that and put their batters under pressure like they've done with ours.”