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Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke says England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff will end his career as a loser.

Clarke said that Australia, trailing 0-1 in the series, will come back hard to beat England and win the Ashes.

'We play our best cricket when the chips are down. I hope Andrew is fit and ready to go. I hope he can finish the series: he certainly deserves that. Unfortunately I think he will be finishing as a loser when we win the series!' Clarke was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph.

Asked if Flintoff will be fully fit, Clarke said: 'Why wouldn't you? Andrew is always up for the big contest and he seems to perform under pressure. No doubt he will be ready for Thursday to give us a bit more stick.'

Clarke went on to add that the Australian players know they have let themselves down in the first two Tests and now want to atone for it in the third Test starting at Edgbaston Thursday.

'We may be 1-0 down, but we know where we let ourselves down in the last two Tests, and where we need to improve. I'm certain that if we play our best cricket we'll win this Test match,' he said.

The Australian batsman also backed out-of-form bowler Mitchell Johnson and hoped that the left-armer will outshine Flintoff as the dominant performer in this series.

'Look back a couple of months, and Mitchell bowled outstandingly well against South Africa, both home and away,' said the ever-positive Clarke.

'He has done a fantastic job for us since Brett Lee has been out injured, and he bowled with good pace in the nets today,' he said.