Prior fit for second Test

London - England wicketkeeper Matt Prior allayed fears over his fitness Tuesday by saying he would be fine to face Australia in the second Test at Lord's.

Prior did not play in a planned round of golf on Monday, leading to concerns he had aggravated an Achilles problem during England's 14-run win in the first Test at Trent Bridge.

With just a three-day turnaround between the two matches, Prior said missing his game of golf was just a sensible precaution.

"I think it was a bigger shock to me than anyone else, reading that I was a doubt for the second Test, I'm not," Prior told a news conference at Lord's.

"I feel completely fit and well.

"The Achilles thing, as I've said before, is purely a management thing and it feels that good at the moment that the reason I didn't play golf yesterday (Monday) was because I didn't want to potentially put it under strain and get it inflamed or anything else.

"It's not because I'm a big injury doubt but I'm feeling good.

"Back-to-back Test matches is one thing that comes into play. You've got one full rest day, I would rather have my feet up to be honest.

"We've got a rest after this Test but it's a quick turnaround.

"The other thing is we've spent a lot of time in the field, it's pretty tense.

"A day off my feet was what was needed."

England are bidding for a third straight series win over Australia but Prior insisted they did not under-estimate their arch-rivals, with the tourists' last wicket pair of Brad Haddin and James Pattinson so nearly leading the visitors to victory in Nottingham.

"It was always going to be (a tight series) and that's what we have prepared ourselves for," he said.

"I think that's one of the reasons we dealt with the situation so well and dealt with the game so well.

"We stayed calm and that was a lot to do with our preparation and what we expected.

"The Australians are fighters, they're not going to lie down and die at any stage and we had to fight equally as hard, if not harder, to get ourselves in position to win the game and then go that one step further and actually win it.

"It's going to be exactly the same this week and we're steeling ourselves for that."