The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of statements made by captain Stokes about the dressing room as no place for "weak men".
Stokes delivered this message in multiple interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second match of the Ashes against the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the third Test, where the visitors are staring at defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had allowed his sentiment to "circulate freely" among the playing group.
"I have completed the necessary discussions in recent days that I required," said the England leader.
But, following the opener scored 85 on the penultimate day in the third Test, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I wasn't actively searching for it. Our approach is to take anything stated in the media with some skepticism," Crawley continued.
Raw Conversations and Steady Philosophy
The captain issued his "fragile individuals" comment subsequent to his side were beaten in the second Test to go 2-0 down.
The England squad subsequently went on a break to a Queensland resort in the gap between the second and third matches.
Before this match, he said his players had held "raw" talks and he had urged them to "show a bit of dog" in their effort to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Yet, Crawley asserted the messaging from Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their prior three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, unchanged," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, playing our brand, with lots of freedom. We believed we could do an extraordinary feat entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Historic Series Victory
Crawley's wicket on day four was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australia spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in 20 deliveries – he also bowled Harry Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England six down for 207 chasing a daunting target of 435.
This means, Australia require four wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an insurmountable 3-0 advantage after three matches played.
Defeat will extend the English team's drought in this country to 18 Tests and ensure a fourth successive away Ashes series defeat.
The current battle is set to be decided in just eleven days of cricket – after England fell the initial matches in two and four days each.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed victory in the UK in eight days, has the outcome of the urn been decided so quickly. Australia have also won in eleven days on two other instances in the modern era.
"This is disheartening," admitted the batsman. "We came here to win the Ashes and we're facing elimination at this point."
"There will still be plenty to play for and we will definitely view it like that," he continued.
"It's been tough. Australia is a very, very good side. It was inevitably hard coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position In Question
Although Crawley's performance in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term future in the England team, Ollie Pope looks under threat for his position in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
Pope fell for 17 runs in England's second knock on Saturday, adding to his modest returns against Australia.
Across 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and boasts an average of 17.62.
Only one other English batsman in over a century – Dennis Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
However, Crawley insisted any suggestion Pope is under the microscope comes from "the media" – referring to the press – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a productive year if I'm honest."
"He has played several excellent innings. This is talk externally. There's no discussion like that on Ollie amongst the players," Crawley concluded.
