London - New England head coach Trevor Bayliss says his charges have been heading in the right direction since the last series against New Zealand.
He was commenting on England's win over Australia in the first Test of the Ashes series in Cardiff.
Bayliss, 52, was appointed Peter Moores' successor in May.
The Australian said he had warned the players against complacency ahead of the Lord's Test, starting on Thursday.
Previous series
"The players are interested in playing good, attacking cricket. Any win is a fantastic feeling.
"The boys are aware that when you beat Australia, the next match is going to be even tougher because they will come back hard.
"There is a long way to go in this series. To win we will have to play some very good cricket."
England named an unchanged 13-man squad for the second Ashes Test, hving thrashed Australia by 169 runs in Cardiff on Saturday.
Series down under
England won the opening Test inside four days having bowled Australia out for 242, who were chasing a daunting 412 to win, and banished memories of the humiliating 5-0 Ashes whitewash in the previous series down under.
The third Test begins at Edgbaston on July 29, the fourth at Trent Bridge on August 6 and the final match of the series at the Oval on August 20.Squad: Alastair Cook (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, Adam Lyth, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Mark Woo.