PAUL COLLINGWOOD insists playing one of the topranked sides in world cricket is motivation enough for England ahead of the opening match of their tour of South Africa against the Diamond Eagles today.

The tourists concluded their final training session at the University of the Free State ahead of the 50-over game, the first of three practice matches before the international battle against the Proteas begins with a Twenty20 clash next Friday.

Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, has already started the mind games following his side’s most recent loss to England – a 22-run defeat which knocked them out of the Champions Trophy in September – but all-rounder Collingwood refused to be drawn in with his focus solely on the job at hand.

Asked whether there was any added tension between the two sides, the Durham player said: ‘‘No, not at all. I think there have been a few comments in the press, but we’re honestly 100 per cent focused on what we need to do.

‘‘I’m sure Smith will, he has done in the past, come out with a few quotes that might get the opposition a bit niggled.

‘‘But we don’t need any more motivation, this is a huge series for us, playing the number one side in the world in their back yard, is going to be a big challenge for us.

We’re very, very excited to get going and looking forward to playing against them.’’ That Champions Trophy match helped England improve their recent stranglehold over the South Africans in one-day cricket – they have now won five out of their last six meetings with the other game being a no-result.

However, Collingwood does not believe his side has any additional advantage.

He continued: ‘‘I wouldn’t say we have a psychological edge, no. I think it’s safe to say they’re the number one side in the world and you don’t become number one just overnight. That takes a long time.

‘‘So they’re a very welldrilled unit, we know that.

We’ve got a long way before we play to our best. We know that if we do play to our best, we can beat anybody on the day. So hopefully we’ll have more days like that.

‘‘We can take confidence from how we’ve played them – the last five or six games we’ve won them all. But it’s going to be a tough series.’’ The 33-year-old, who is England’s Twenty20 captain, says his side could take the challenge to their hosts, but warned about over-attacking.

He said: ‘‘We’ve probably played our best cricket when we’ve been bold, going out there and taking it to the opposition.

‘‘But on the other hand, you have a bit of a hiccup playing like that all the time as well.

We’ve just got to make sure we attack on the right times and on the right wickets.

‘‘Obviously we’re playing around the country on different wickets, so we’ll just have to adjust on each and every ground we turn up on.’’ Looking ahead to the opening game, Collingwood is expecting a daunting challenge.

He added: ‘‘I think when we tour Australia and here, you do come up against opponents who are desperate to beat you and beat you well.

‘‘So we’ll make sure the experienced guys will guide the younger guys and make sure we go out there 100 per cent because anything less, there could be a hiccup there.”

England (from): A Strauss (captain), J Denly, A Cook, M Prior (wkt), P Collingwood, E Morgan, J Trott, L Wright, S Broad, A Rashid, T Bresnan, G Swann, S Mahmood, J Anderson, G Onions.