Michael Vaughan is confident England can win their series against South Africa - because there's little to fear in the Proteas attack.

Andrew Strauss' side face a four-Test series in South Africa, but are high on confidence after their Ashes success and improved recent one-day performances.

And Vaughan insists England can maintain that momentum as they build towards next winter's Ashes series in Australia.

Vaughan told sportinglife.com: "I thought to start with it was going to be a real tough trip but I'm quietly confident. I think we'll win.

"I also look at South Africa, and their bowling attack doesn't put the fear of life into me.

"I think it'll be difficult for both teams to take 20 wickets - I expect both sets of batters to score quite heavily against both sets of bowlers. It could be 1-0.

"Steyn's dangerous but after that I don't see anything to be fearful of. They'll be looking at our attack and saying the same thing that there's not a great deal behind Jimmy Anderson, but I think (Stuart) Broad's impressive and (Graeme) Swann if it spins is a real attacking option. (Graham) Onions if he gets fit will be dangerous.

"I think we're developing a team thast could generate into a real good one. I've got really good vibes about this England team at the moment, and hopefully this will be the next rung on the ladder towards becoming the number one team in the world.

"It'll be tough, it always is away from home, but I think we've got it in us to win the key moments because we're mentally pretty strong.

"In the Ashes, yeah we had a little bit of luck. But we deserved it. It's not luck when you win those key moments. You win them because you've got a good mentaliy and you all believe in one another and you fight for eachother.

"I know Andy Strauss really well, and Paul Collingwood and Andy Flower, and I know the kind of mentality they're trying to instil in the team. That's why I'm very confident the side will be successful.

"We've got a lot of competition for places which is healthy and I expect us to have a good tour."

Vaughan is also impressed with England's recent improvements in the one-day format. After a 6-1 post-Ashes drubbing against Australia, Strauss' side over-achieved at the ICC Champions Trophy and moved 1-0 up in their series against South Africa with a clinical display at Centurion on Sunday.

He said: "I think it's the best balanced one-day side we've had for a long, long time. And it's not just the balance, it's the fact we've got different options and different styles of batsmen and that's imperative if you want to have a good one-day team.

"We've got the power in Luke Wright, the real skill and power of Eoin Morgan and then you've got experience like Straussy and Paul Collingwood. And Jonathan Trott looks like he'll become a very, very good player.

"And then add into that Kevin Pietersen, who will probably take a bit of time to find his feet because of the time he's had away from the game, but we know what he brings."

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