Ben Stokes insisted there would be no change to his win-or-bust approach to Test cricket despite England going into Wednesday’s second Ashes Test 1-0 down in the series. The England men’s captain said he would “absolutely not” consider playing for a draw no matter what position his team finds itself in.

Josh Tongue will make his second Test appearance as part of an all-seam frontline bowling group. That decision was informed by concerns over Moeen Ali’s fitness, the poor recent record of English spinners here (in the past five years England have taken 16 wickets with spin at an average of 36.12, and 120 wickets with seam at an average of 21.69) and Mark Wood’s decision not to play.

“Me and Mark are great friends, we go back a long way,” Stokes said. “I spoke to him about how I’d want him to operate in this game and he was very honest with me.

“He wasn’t sure he’d be able to give what he’s known for throughout this Test match, so the decision was made to allow him to keep building his body up to give himself the best opportunity to go out from [next week’s third Test in] Leeds onwards and play a full part.”

Despite Wood’s withdrawal, the injuries that have ruled Jack Leach and Jofra Archer out of the series and the narrow defeat in the opening game England are not seeing themselves as victims of misfortune. Zak Crawley delivered what Stokes described as “an unbelievable speech” in the players’ huddle before Tuesday’s training session on precisely that subject, using an old Chinese parable about a farmer.

“You don’t know why things happen, if it’s for a good reason or not, it’s just one of those things to deal with,” Stokes said. “The team we’ve picked I’m very confident we can walk away from here with a win. Rather than worry about things I don’t have, I’d rather be confident in the things I do have.”

One thing Stokes very much has is complete confidence in his team. “Every decision I make is in the belief that this is the best option for us to win the game,” he said. “It was the first thing I said when I was [appointed], that I’m not interested in draws. Everything that I do and every decision I make will be to force a win or result our way.”

Having toiled on a dry, flat Edgbaston pitch – “If all the pitches are like that I’m done in the Ashes series,” a weary Jimmy Anderson wrote – England’s bowlers will be encouraged by the look of the surface being prepared here.

“There is a green tinge to the pitch at the moment, which would benefit all of our seamers,” said Tongue. “And if there’s a bit of nip and movement in the air then our bowling unit can benefit from that.”

Despite having played here only once Tongue has a place on the Lord’s honours board, after taking five second-innings wickets in an impressive debut against Ireland. He also dismissed Australia’s Steve Smith in the County Championship last month.

“Right from the first moment I stepped into the dressing room I’ve been made to feel so welcome,” he said. “Coming into the side now I feel I can add a bit more pace and bounce to the attack, and hopefully get a few wickets.”

While England go into the game without a specialist spinner, Australia’s will celebrate a notable milestone, with this match due to be Nathan Lyon’s 100th consecutive Test. He will be the sixth man, and the first bowler, to achieve the feat.

“I couldn’t imagine a side without Nath in there,” said Pat Cummins, their captain, whose only dilemma is over the potential inclusion of Mitchell Starc instead of Scott Boland.

“I’ve seen they’ve gone with four quicks, which is probably as we expected after seeing Moeen’s injury last week, but I feel really lucky we’ve got Nathan.”