Kevin Pietersen is warning Australia to expect another trial by reverse-swing this summer, from an England attack he believes can prove every bit as potent as the 2005 Ashes winners.

Pietersen today took umbrage at his old adversary and friend Shane Warne's suggestion that England are close to a "one-man team", who cannot beat Australia without his own batting genius.

The England number four is adamant in fact that every member of the current team is capable of causing Australia major headaches - and if the current hot weather persists, he sees reverse-swing again becoming the battle ground.

Four years ago, Australia's powerhouse batting line-up was undermined by the skill and speed of an England attack containing Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison and Simon Jones

There will be no Jones this time. But in James Anderson and Stuart Broad, Pietersen is confident England again have the weapons to put Ricky Ponting's tourists under pressure.

"I'm sure the Australians are probably hoping that the weather doesn't stay like this - because Anderson, Broad, Flintoff bowling reverse swing ... I wouldn't want to be facing that," said Pietersen.

England's 2-1 2005 victory was built on their ability to stop huge totals being piled up by Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist et al.

Ponting, Michael Clarke and Simon Katich are all back for another go - and Pietersen predicts they face another difficult time.

"We're going to be really tough to play against," he believes.

"If batters do conquer our reverse-swing, I look forward to watching them. It will take some serious batting against those bowlers, all at 90mph reverse-swinging it both ways.

"When I saw Anderson doing it at Durham (in last month's second Test) against the West Indies, I said 'how do you face that?'

"I know as a batsman who goes okay against swing bowling, to face that is the biggest test of all."

Pietersen is happy to discount Test great-turned-pundit Warne's latest pre-Ashes shot across the boughs.

"He said about me that we're a one-man team - which I don't believe in," he confirms.

"It's a compliment coming from a legend of the game. But England are certainly not a one-man team.

"We've got (Andrew) Strauss who scored so many hundreds recently; Alastair Cook has also scored hundreds in the last six months; (Paul) Collingwood the same, (Ravi) Bopara three in his last three Test innings.

"I've scored a few; Flintoff has come back into the team; Matty Prior's batting has been outstanding.

"That's without even talking about our bowlers."

Australia, meanwhile, are now without a raft of the superstar generation which helped them rule world cricket for so long - and Pietersen identifies the absence of retired wicketkeeper-batsman Gilchrist as especially key.

"The big one that we don't see is Gilchrist coming in at seven," he notes.

"In Perth [during England's 2006-07 5-0 Ashes defeat] when he came in and hit one of the quickest hundreds in history, that was just demoralising.

"That's one of the guys we're very, very happy not to see.

"We've got to make sure we capitalise on whatever weaknesses we think they've got."

Pietersen's own readiness for the five-match series beginning in Cardiff next week was called into question when he had to miss the NatWest Series against West Indies because of an Achilles injury.

But he insists he has no lingering qualms about that.

"I'm feeling strong, fresh and ready to play," he reports.

"I couldn't have been batting any better than in the Twenty20 World Cup - so I hope I can take that form into the series.

"I'm a really positive person. So until I actually miss a Test match, I will not start thinking about missing one.

"I'm 'rehabbing' every single day. I've been as professional as I can."

He will not even consider a backward step, or a negative thought, as he gears up to face Australia again.

"I can't have another month (of recovery time). I start a Test match, the first of a huge series, next week," he explains.

"As soon as you try to play against Australia thinking you're injured that's when they'll pounce on you and crucify you.

"You have to go out there in a challenging fashion. That's how I like to play - and that's what I will be doing."

He is confident too that England have good prospects of regaining the Ashes - although he reasons no one in their right mind can expect a re-run of the 2005 dramas.

"I don't think it can match 2005, because that's the best series that's ever been played," he said.

"We hope the result is the same. But I'd be stupid to say we can match the intensity.

"The Australians are a fantastic side. Their last series was in South Africa, and they won. That's not easy to do.

"But our side has improved a lot, and we are going to be a force to be reckoned with."