Flower concerned by defeat

England have now lost eight of their last nine international matches after being bowled out for just 72 while chasing 145 in their final innings of the second Test.

Their problems playing spin came to the forefront again as Abdur Rehman took 6-25 to leave the tourists in danger of a 3-0 whitewash in Dubai next week.

Flower says his faltering batting order must accept their failings, and even hinted that changes could be made for the final Test.

"Saturday was tough watching for anyone who loves England cricket," Flower said.

"The guys played some really good cricket to get us into that position to chase a total of 145 to win a Test. It's exactly the sort of position you want to be in.

"But we weren't good enough to deal with their spinners; we weren't skilful enough and we didn't deal with the pressure well enough - and I think we have to face up to those facts."

Changes

He added: "Continuity of selection has been part of our strength, but very obviously we have to pick players who are most adept at dealing with these conditions.

"Indeed, that is what we have tried to do. We have lost the series now - and, of course, we have to go into this third Test and pick what we think is the best XI to try and win the game.

"If that means making a change here and there, then we won't be afraid to do that."

The defeat was all the more disappointing for Flower because England had done so well to put themselves in a position to level the series.

"Sunday was very poor. The three days preceding that were pretty good," he added.

"We put ourselves in a good position where we could have won the Test, but then performed very badly with the bat to lose it.

"Maybe we dropped a couple of catches in that first innings that were quite important. But other than that, the bowlers and fielders were outstanding - and Monty Panesar was great in his comeback game. But obviously our batting against spin let us down."