England coach Duncan Fletcher praised his two opening batsmen after they had taken the fight to the Pakistanis at Old Trafford.

The home side had been set 370 to win after Pakistan had been dismissed for 323 and if England achieve their target the records will tumble.

England's best score to win a Test is 332 for seven against Australia in the 1928-29 Ashes series, and the highest to win at Old Trafford is only 145 for seven by South Africa in 1955.

But Michael Atheron on his home ground and Marcus Trescothick gave them the perfect start in the final session of the fourth day, posting an unbroken opening stand of 85 from just 22 overs.

Fletcher said: "Those two showed tremendous character; you look at innings like that and you must appreciate how well they batted," said Fletcher.

"All the Pakistan bowlers are threats - they are all world-class. Wasim Akram was fired up and bowled exceptionally well and Waqar Younis swings it around.

"Mike's proved it on numerous occasions. He likes a good scrap and he had showed us again that he's up for it. Although the wicket's still playing well, you've got to look at the mental side of it.

"When you add pressure and they are coming at you like that, it is not easy and those guys showed a lot of character.

"Although it's a nice wicket to bat on, the target will be pretty difficult to get - but having got 85, we've put ourselves back in with a chance.

"It's a pitch that produces positive cricket, we are well into the game, we batted well tonight to set it up. It should be an exciting last day.

"It's a big target, it's not easy to chase anything over 200 in any match, you've got to bat properly. You've played four days of cricket, it gets to you and you've got to show you've got the mental strength to do it.

"We'll play every session as it comes by. We'll look at the first session and take it from there.

"From the public's point of view, it's been a very good Test Match. There's been a lot of runs, the rates have been above three all the time, there have been some good catches and run-outs."

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