KEVIN Pietersen believes England’s performance in his absence this summer has shown they are now a side capable of performing even without their leading players.

The former England captain is preparing to make his first appearance since helping secure a 2-0 Test series triumph over West Indies at Chester-le-Street, with a troublesome Achilles injury ruling him out of the one-day series which followed.

His absence compounded the loss of all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who has yet to recover from a knee operation over a month ago, yet it had little impact on England’s fortunes as they also swept to a convincing one-day series win against the tourists.

That is an encouraging sign for England as they build up towards the start of the npower Ashes series in Cardiff on July 8, particularly as Flintoff’s fitness remains a doubt for the start of the big contest of the summer.

Pietersen is set to make his comeback in this evening’s ICC World Twenty20 tournament warm-up match against Scotland at Trent Bridge.

He said: ‘‘I’ve actually been quite annoyed when people have said the likes of Ravi (Bopara) are my rivals to counter the Australians.

‘‘I am with Ravi all day every day, I love the bloke, his confidence, the way he plays without fear, the way he talks about things and the way he doesn’t worry – I love his approach and it’s something a lot of the players can learn from.

‘‘(Stuart) Broad has been exceptional, Matty Prior is somebody who has improved so much as well and James Anderson produced a brilliant display at Durham the other day – I don’t care who you are, you’re not playing that sort of bowling well.

‘‘England are not relying on one or two players.

‘‘If you look at Australia during their good times, if (Matthew) Hayden didn’t perform, (Adam) Gilchrist did, and the best thing about what’s happening now is that if I fail like I did when I got a first-baller at Lord’s, we still got a decent total.’’ For all Pietersen’s bullishness, there is no doubt England will be relieved his right Achilles problem has improved to such a degree that he will be available for the three weeks of the World Twenty20.

Pietersen has been working with former athletics coach Mark Young, who is now the England and Wales Cricket Board’s head of physiotherapy and previously worked with top athletes including Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt.

‘‘He said this Achilles injury is something he has seen on a daily basis in athletics so he could diagnose it and see what the problem was straight away,’’ enthused Pietersen.

‘‘He has put me on balancing boards to make sure my balance is right. I have had to close my eyes to make sure my balance is right and really start thinking about my feet.

‘‘Standing on the balance board for the first time, I was like a clown and I was all over the place, but I’m now not too bad and can balance for 30 seconds with my eyes closed.’’ Young has informed Pietersen he is still a fortnight away from road running, which has formed an integral part of his fitness programme in recent years and is thought to have caused the current problem during his time in the Caribbean in the winter.

‘‘The only thing that is restricted is my running,’’ said Pietersen. ‘‘I’ve really got to ease back into my running. It would be stupid for me to do what I’d do normally, which is a 40 to 60 minute run.

‘‘It’s a natural progression of putting weight through the tendon and not hurting it and getting myself comfortable enough so that in a couple of weeks I’m able to run.’’ England have won just seven of their 15 Twenty20 Internationals.

Off-spinner Graeme Swann failed to participate in England’s practice yesterday at the National Performance Centre in Loughborough because of a stiff back, but is expected to be fit to face Scotland.