PAUL COLLINGWOOD has warned England’s secret weapon Graham Onions he can expect a rough ride against the West Indies at Riverside tomorrow.

And as England selectors ponder the potential reinstatement of experienced hands like Ryan Sidebottom and Ian Bell to the national side, Collingwood confirmed that every member of the team is using the current Test to secure a place in this summer’s Ashes squad.

Onions enjoyed a fairytale start to his Test career with a seven-wicket haul at Lords, but his Durham team-mate warned the medium pacer to prepare for a tough test against the West Indies batsmen who’ll now have the Gateshead-born bowler in their sights.

“He’s had an exceptional start,” noted Collingwood.

“To get his name on the honours board (at Lord’s) will have given him a lot of confidence in his first game.

“But what he has to do is keep his feet on the ground and go out and put in a similar performance in this test.

“Obviously these are different conditions, he’ll have to bowl to a different length.

And the West Indies have seen him now and know what he’s about so that comes into it.

“What he does really well is get close to the stumps and offers three modes of dismissal with every ball because he bowls pretty straight. You can get a nick, get bowled and there’s lbw’s as well and not many bowlers have that range of weapons in their armoury.

“Hopefully he’ll come out at the Riverside and have the same confidence and exuberance he showed last week and enjoy the occasion.”

Collingwood has noted how quickly the likes of Onions have been assimilated into the England set up but denied the pair have put aside their footballing rivalry.

“We give him a few hugs here and there but I wouldn’t say it’s full on love,” joked Sunderland fan Collingwood.

“He’s a Newcastle supporter anyway so I cant give him too much love!

“The England dressing room is a great environment at the moment. We’re trying to enjoy ourselves and enjoy our cricket and I think that comes across in our performances.”

One member of the West Indies side aiming to bounce back at Riverside is Durham batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

After scoring only four runs, including being bowled for a duck by Graeme Swann in his two Lord’s innings, the former world number one declared his intent to impress in front of his home crowd.

“I have to put it behind me and move forward to the next game,” said the 34-year-old.

“Swann bowled well, you cannot take anything away from him.

“It’s just one of those things, I have to put it behind me and move forward. It was just one ball and two balls and that was it!”

And despite Onions being only a fringe player during Chanderpaul’s spell as a Durham player in the last two summers, the batsman confirmed he was always convinced his team-mate had the strength of character to excel on the international stage.

“I’m not surprised because I know the type of guy he is,’’ he admitted.“He always sets high standards for himself. He works hard, sometimes things go his way, sometimes they don’t.

“But he always keeps his standards high and goes out and tries as hard as he can.”

Collingwood believes that England must build on the momentum that’s seen the side return to winning ways after their winter of discontent.

And he confirmed that Sidebottom and Bell’s recall to the fold has ensured none of the players who excelled at Lords can rest on their laurels.

He said: “The selectors and skipper will look at the conditions and make a judgement.

We are forever on our toes.

“We know we have to perform to stay in the side. At the moment you know if you’re a batsmen you have to get runs or bowler has to take wickets because people are waiting in the wings to get into the final eleven for the Ashes. This is huge game for everyone to keep impressing.

“We have got some momentum now.

“It was a difficult winter but the way we’ve bounced back since the Jamaica Test you couldn’t really have asked for much more.

“From that day we’ve really started to nail how to go out and win test matches.

“There’s been a real progression.

This is the last Test match before the Ashes.

“We cant get away from that fact and we want to put in a big performance and take this trophy back because it hurt us when we lost in the West Indies.”