LONDON (Reuters)
England were taking stock of their walking wounded following their Ashes defeat at the weekend as coach Duncan Fletcher warned that a 5-0 whitewash could shatter the team's confidence.

England are hoping that captain Nasser Hussain and number three batsman Michael Vaughan could return from injury for the fourth Test next week. Hussain's leadership, in particular, has been missed as England have lost the first three Tests of the five-match series.

Fletcher, who had masterminded England's rise up the world rankings with four consecutive series wins before the 2001 season, said: "A whitewash will set us back quite a bit after what we have achieved over the past 18 months."

The outclassed home side lost by seven wickets at Trent Bridge on Saturday, with the fourth Test starting at Headingley on August 16. There has been only one previous 5-0 Ashes whitewash, when Australia beat England in 1920-21.

Fletcher added: "Hussain is important to the side, to lose him was a big blow. He's a shrewd captain."

Hussain is due to play in an Essex second eleven match starting on Wednesday, while Vaughan played club cricket at the weekend and could return for Yorkshire this week.

Both players, however, will be ring-rusty. Hussain has barely played all season after breaking his thumb in the first Test against Pakistan in May, followed by a finger fracture in the first Test against Steve Waugh's side at the start of July.

Vaughan, who has undergone knee surgery, last played for England in a one-day international in mid-June.

Graham Thorpe, meanwhile, will be re-assessed at the weekend. He broke a finger in the second Test againstAustralia on July 22 immediately after a six-week lay-off following a previous injury.

Weekend newspaper reports in England speculated that batsman Ian Ward and off-form all-rounder Craig White would be the immediate casualties of England's defeat, while some suggested Michael Atherton and Alec Stewart were on the brink of retirement.

England chairman of selectors David Graveney, however, told BBC radio: "Atherton and Stewart are major planks within our team. They have never intimated to me that their careers are coming to an immediate end. I hope personally they play for some time to come."

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