England put down the anchor on the third day of the fifth and final Ashes Test against Australia at the Oval, slowly taking away the chances of an Aussie victory.
The hosts scored a mere 215 runs all day on 98.3 overs, finishing the day on 247 for four with Ian Bell and debutant Chris Woakes at the crease.
England opener Joe Root said his side are keen to extend Australia's winless Test match streak to nine games by denying them the opportunity to post a win.
"You always want to come out of series with best possible outcome, whether that be 4-0 or 3-0, that's the target," Root said.
"If we can go away with 3-0 it will obviously stand us in good stead going to Australia.
"We have played hard cricket and it's not always easy to just go out there and score at four an over.
"It was quite a slow day but we have played very good cricket. Hopefully, we can kick on tomorrow, get a good start and put them on the back foot a bit.
"We've played some really good cricket this summer and hopefully we can finish on a high.
"The pitch is quite slow and hard to time the ball on. Australia bowled pretty tightly and we've played well to get to where we have."
Peter Siddle felt the Aussies had bowled really well on the third day, but was disappointed not to take a few more wickets.
"All I can go on is the way we bowled today (Friday) and it was probably one of the better innings we have bowled in this series," he said.
"We bowled very well and that is all we can control. We knew that we had to try and get the breakthroughs and push the game forward but it has been hard work out there."
To watch Ashes England vs Australia Live Stream for U.S. viewers, click here.
Viewers in the U.K. can click here.
