Peacock happy with England's underdog tag

England have made progress in each match so far and Peacock is confident there is more improvement to come in the final.

England captain Jamie Peacock insists being labelled underdogs for Saturday's Four Nations final against Australia has given his side extra determination to win the tournament.

The Australians are firm favourites with bookmakers ahead of the Elland Road clash after defeating England 26-16 in the group stage of the tournament.

England have rarely fared well against Australia and were hammered 52-4 in the last World Cup, But Peacock is confident his improving team can defy the pundits.

- We're going quietly along - he said. - We're the underdogs and nothing is really expected of us.

- No one expected us to be in the final. After New Zealand played Australia in that first match, everyone wrote off our chances so I think we're just going to go out there and enjoy it.

- You are aware of history and obviously we want to be the first in two or three generations to do that.

- We've given ourselves a chance by getting to the final and we've just got to get out there and play. -

England have made progress in each match so far and Peacock is confident there is more improvement to come in the final, although he acknowledges a Kangaroos team in form will take some stopping.

- You've always got to be on your guard against a team like Australia because they can quickly put points on anybody - he said.

- You switch off for five or 10 minutes and you can be 24 or 26 points down. It's up to us to stay fully focused for the 80 minutes. -

Australia centre Greg Inglis was England's tormentor earlier in the Four Nations tournament but Peacock believes it would be dangerous to simply try to stop the supply of ball to the Melbourne Storm star.

- I don't think it's quite as simple as that - he said. - They've got quality all over the field, haven't they?

- Everybody has spoken about their backline but we fully respect what their forwards are capable of. They've got some fantastic players in their pack as well. -