Michael Vaughan's England troops head into the Chester-le-Street Test with a 2-0 lead having won the series at Old Trafford earlier this week.

Whether Monty Panesar will get much of an opportunity to add to his 17 wickets so far in the series may depend largely on the weather after rain denied England an opportunity to practice for a second successive day at Chester-le-Street.

If the rain relents, England will once again enter the Test with a four-man attack and give Panesar a further opportunity to develop alongside Steve Harmison, Ryan Sidebottom and the returning Hoggard.

The four-man attack option has been forced on England by the ankle injury to all-rounder Andrew Flintoff and Vaughan admits it takes some adjustment after years of being used to having five bowlers at his disposal.

"Having four bowlers is new to me because I've always been used to having five but it's a real challenge to change them around the get the bowling changes right and I'm enjoying that," he said.

"We've shown over the last year or so that a four-man attack can be very successful as well. We beat Pakistan with a four-man attack and it really makes the bowlers knuckle down and work hard because they know they have a few more overs to bowl and it does put a lot of pressure on your spinner.

"Fortunately he's standing up to that pressure tremendously well for a 25-year-old who hasn't played a huge amount of cricket. I think he's doing a great job."

Harmison is expected to bat at number eight in his home Test after Durham team-mate Liam Plunkett was dropped to accommodate Hoggard's return, while England remain positive that out-of-form opener Andrew Strauss can get back to his best.

Strauss has scored only one half-century in 15 Test innings, but Vaughan stressed: "He's a strong character and he's got a lot of experience and I fully expect him to come through because he's got a lot of mental strength and he's a good player.

"I just want to see him get runs. I know how important he is to the team and I know how much he adds to the team even when he's not scoring runs.

"He's a great player to have around the dressing room, he speaks brilliantly to all the players about situations and is a good thinker when you're on the cricket pitch. Yes, he's not getting runs at the minute but he's adding to the team in an number of other areas."