The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments made by skipper Stokes regarding the dressing room as no place for "those lacking fortitude".
Stokes delivered those words in several conversations following England's loss in the second Ashes versus the Australians previously.
In the lead-up to the Adelaide Test, where the visitors now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, the captain noted he had let his sentiment to "drift around" among the squad.
"I've done the necessary discussions in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, after the opener made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the media with some skepticism," he added.
Frank Discussions and Steady Philosophy
Stokes made the "fragile individuals" observation after England suffered a loss in the second Test to go two matches behind.
The team afterwards took a holiday to Noosa between the second and third matches.
Before the Adelaide contest, Stokes said his players had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to remain alive in the Ashes battle.
Yet, the Kent batsman asserted the messaging from Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum had stayed in line with their previous three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been very positive, the same as always," said Crawley. "The focus is on maintaining positivity, play our way, with lots of freedom. It felt like we were capable of an extraordinary feat entering this Test."
Australia Close of Rapid Ashes Triumph
Crawley's dismissal late on Saturday came during a crucial triple-strike by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's three wickets in a short spell – including the wickets of Brook and Ben Stokes – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team require just four more wickets on Sunday's last day to move to an unassailable 3-0 lead with three matches played.
A loss would prolong England's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and condemn them to a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just eleven days of play – with England fell the first two Tests in two and four days respectively.
Not since 1921, when the Australians completed victory in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the urn been determined so quickly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other occasions in the modern era.
"This is disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination at this point."
"There remains significant pride at stake and we will definitely view it with that mindset," Crawley added.
"The challenge has been difficult. Australia is a very, very good team. It was always going to be hard coming here to face them. They entered as the favourites coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Position Under Scrutiny
While the opener's innings in Adelaide probably answers questions about his short-term future in the England team, Pope looks under threat for his spot in the fourth Test starting December 26th.
The Surrey batsman was out for 17 in the team's second knock on day four, extending his modest returns versus the old enemy.
In 16 Ashes innings, the Surrey man has failed to score a half-century and boasts an average of just 17.62.
A solitary other English batsman since 1900 – Amiss – has featured an equal number of innings in the top order in the Ashes and returned a poorer average.
But, the opener insisted any notion his teammate is being scrutinised comes from "the media" – meaning the journalists – "not inside the camp."
"The squad is fully aware of his considerable talent," said he. "He has had a productive year to be frank."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There is no discussion like that regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.
