England, without a win for nine months, have been told not to retreat into their shells against Argentina at Twickenham as they seek to avoid the embarrassment of being bracketed with the worst-performing side in red-rose history.

Defeat on Saturday would extend their losing run to seven, equalling their worst sequence - in 1972 - since Tests began in 1871, but their attack coach, Brian Ashton, urged his players yesterday not to lose faith in the positive methods he is trying to introduce.

Ashton, having studied the tape of the New Zealand game, says he saw enough promise in the record 40-21 home defeat to believe England have turned a corner - everywhere save the scoreboard. "The key thing was the mindset with which the players played," he said, insisting England would not revert to an old-style slugging match in pursuit of a victory.

"After half-time on Sunday we could have said, 'Bugger this, we'll stick the ball up our jumper and play a damage-limitation game.' Instead we stuck together and created opportunities to score. The players have bought into what we're trying to do and we cannot afford not to keep that positive mindset. We've had a game that has been collision-based for quite some time. Now we're trying to attack space. It's an ongoing process - you don't wave a magic wand in this job."

Ashton concedes that England need a victory, less than a year before the World Cup. "If we had scored seven tries against New Zealand and they'd scored one and beaten us I wouldn't have been happy. A victory against Argentina would give the team a massive boost of confidence, there's no shadow of a doubt about that. A win is pretty high on our agenda."

To achieve that goal England's pack must build a stronger set-piece platform than they offered against the All Blacks. The forwards coach, John Wells, felt the French referee, Joël Jutge, was lenient on the All Blacks' scrummaging techniques but he acknowledged yesterday that the Kiwis had also been far more "streetwise" at the breakdown and at restarts.

The powerful Pumas, with their unique scrummaging style which involves a secondary surge when their opponents are not expecting it, will pose a different threat. Wells is looking for his own big men to show their worth. "There's no doubt Argentina base their game around their forwards," he said. "We know what they are going to throw at us and it's how we deal with that. We shouldn't be frightened of the way they scrummage."

With 19 tries conceded in the last five Tests, though, there needs to be a stiffening of resolve. "We definitely need to be more aggressive," said the defence coach, Mike Ford. "For whatever reason we weren't last week."

England are not allowed to start players in more than three of this autumn's four Tests. The likes of Phil Vickery and Steve Thompson, therefore, may yet be recalled for the two games against South Africa. The flanker Richard Hill will not return just yet, but he will start for Saracens against Leicester on Sunday as his comeback from knee surgery continues.

Tickets for next year's World Cup in France go on general sale today. Ticketmaster will be taking bookings from 8am.