Cook: England will play to win

England could be forgiven, perhaps, for a secret policy of damage limitation in their one-day international series against Pakistan.

But captain Alastair Cook insists no such thoughts have entered the tourists' minds before Monday's first match of four, at the Zayed Stadium.

Collective confidence can be nothing other than dented by a sequence of nine defeats in England's last 10 international matches - including most recently a 3-0 Test series whitewash against Pakistan.

But Cook will not be erring on the side of conservatism.

"We play every series to win," he said.

"There's no point saying we'll take a draw [drawn series] or anything like that.

"That's not the way you play sport as a sportsman. It doesn't matter what game you play, you're desperate to win."

Cook is a realist too, though, and is well aware England face another tough assignment against many of the same players who beat them in Tests - the dangerous Shahid Afridi is one of the limited-overs additions too - and has helped Pakistan to win their last six 50-over series.

He said: "Against a very good side, you know you're not going to win all the time.

"But if you have the attitude of 'we'll take a draw', it's not good for anyone."

He is painfully aware too that fortunes can change very quickly, having been one of the driving forces in England's ascent to the top of the International Cricket Council Test rankings just last year and also won both his first two ODI series as permanent captain.

"It's amazing how quickly it turns around, both when you're doing well and badly," he said.

"We haven't become bad players over a two-month period.

"Results show we haven't played well enough at all, but we don't become bad players.

"I hope we can show people what we're made of."

Cook is confident as well that he has the right playing personnel alongside him.

"Every series is a test," he said.

"You can't say it's going to be perfect all the way - there's going to be some real tough moments, and you need characters to pull through in these times.

"It's been a tough five weeks as a Test tour. But this is now a different side and a fresh side."

Meanwhile, uncapped batsman Jos Buttler was on Sunday ruled out of this first ODI because of split webbing in his left hand.