Atherton was upbeat about his team's prospects in New Zealand, adding: ``I'm confident of beating New Zealand, you have to be. It's the second leg of the trip for us and obviously after a disappointing first leg we are looking to put things right here and all the players are determined to do so.''

He was adamant that the players were not deflated by their under-par performances in Zimbabwe. ``Nobody's down,'' Atherton said.

New Zealand coach Steve Rixon said he would not accept that his team were favourites for the series. ``The team that takes the initiative from day one is the team that is likely to do well,'' he said. England open their tour on Friday in New Plymouth against a New Zealand Academy team.