England are facing a battle to stay in this Magellan Ashes Series after Australia took control of the second Test on day two in Adelaide.

QUICK SINGLE Australians take charge in Adelaide

Here are five things Joe Root’s team need to do to force their way back into contention.

Call-up Mark Wood

It is understood England are likely to bring Wood into their squad ahead of the third Test in Perth after he has worked his way back to fitness with the England Lions squad in Australia.

The Durham quick is by far his county's fastest bowler and would bring something different to an attack that has been shown up as pedestrian during the first two Tests.

Wood has suffered from a succession of injuries since making his Test debut against New Zealand at Lord’s two-and-a-half years ago, but he has come back from an ankle injury that wiped out the second half of his northern summer and is set to be included in England’s team for their two-day tour match against a Cricket Australia XI at Richardson Park in Perth next weekend.

Wood is greeted by Stuart Broad in the Gabba nets // Getty

The 27-year-old – the only England bowler capable of consistently reaching speeds in excess of 145kph – bowled with impressive pace for his country's second string against a Queensland XI at Allan Border Field last week. Wood took 1-64 for the Lions from the 14 overs he bowled and is now a live chance to play at the WACA, as long as he comes through the Perth warm-up unscathed.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has been critical of the fact Wood is not already in the squad.

"People can’t keep telling me Mark Wood is injured, when he’s saying he’s fit,” Vaughan told BBC’s Test Match Special on day two in Adelaide.

"He’s either injured or he’s not. He’s here, playing cricket.

"In a four-man seam attack, you can have that luxury of a fourth seamer that can bowl a 15-over day. There’s no question for me that he plays in Perth.

Dinner wrap: Marsh ton, Cummins cameo frustrate England

"Before the England party was picked, one of the big things was pace. In a four-man seam attack, you can’t have four bowlers who bowl at the same pace.

"My frustration is these things were mentioned before the tour party was selected. That’s where the smart thinking hasn’t been smart. It hasn’t been clever selection for a tour like this, in these conditions, with the Kookaburra ball."

Be smarter with the bowlers they have

England’s bowlers looked dangerous when they pitched the ball up in Adelaide and perhaps didn’t have the best of luck either. But they too often failed to trust a full length and didn’t attack the stumps.

Party time as Marsh hits Broad for 4, 4, 6 in Adelaide

It allowed Australia to sit in for long spells during the 149 overs their innings lasted and cash in on bad balls.

As England great Geoffrey Boycott argued on TMS: "England just don’t have enough pace and craft. It’s buffet bowling. Help yourself."

Write off Ben Stokes for the tour

The whole saga surrounding Stokes has been a huge distraction for England on this tour.

Someone high up at the England & Wales Cricket Board – namely director of cricket Andrew Strauss – should have stated categorically early on after his arrest on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm in September that he would be out of the picture for the Ashes.

Stokes misfires with bat and ball in comeback match

Instead he is still "unavailable for selection" until further notice, meaning England have had to field questions wherever they have gone since arriving in Australia five weeks ago.

The allrounder’s decision to travel to New Zealand this week and play for Canterbury further ramped up speculation he could perhaps be parachuted into the middle of the Ashes series. That always seemed unlikely, but the fact it was even a possibility must surely have left the players currently in Australia – especially captain Joe Root – with the hope he would receive a call-up at some stage.

QUICK SINGLE Stokes misfires with bat and ball in NZ

That can’t be good for team morale or clear thinking – something that is essential on an Ashes tour.

Ditch the sledging ... and the curfew

When it comes to morale, the midnight curfew placed on England’s players in the wake of the Jonny Bairstow headbutt revelations last week has done nothing for the tourists.

Having agreed that Bairstow had broken no curfew when he was out on the first night of the tour in Perth nor acted aggressively when meeting Cameron Bancroft with what the Australia opener described as a "weird" greeting, the ECB still imposed a crackdown on the players – something that has done little to inject optimism into the touring party.

Sledging won’t unsettle Smith: Ponting

Moreover, the fact Australia’s players unsurprisingly chose to convert the open goal handed to them by Bairstow has seen England first complain about sledging in the run-up to the Adelaide Test and then ramp up the on-field war of words themselves over the first two days.

Steve Smith's team have stated they see on-field verbals as a legitimate tactic to unsettle England. It seems to have worked too.

It's time for the tourists to disengage in this battle and concentrate on the cricket so they give themselves the best chance of getting back into this series.

Channel the fighting spirit shown at home

England came back from an horrendous 340-run defeat by South Africa at Trent Bridge during the northern summer just gone, winning the final two Tests to claim the series 3-1.

They did it too in their home summer of 2014, coming from 1-0 down to beat India 3-1.

Sadly, in the return series last winter, they were swept aside 4-0 by Virat Kohli’s men as they subsided under the demoralising weight of Indian runs.

Magnificent Marsh posts defiant Ashes hundred

The same occurred here in Australia in 2013-14, when they slumped to an embarrassing 5-0 whitewash inspired by a rampaging Mitchell Johnson.

Coming back away from home is hard to do, but Root and his players need to do it. And quickly, or they risk another demoralising overseas Test series.

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird, Chadd Sayers.

England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

Second Test Adelaide Oval, December 2-6 (Day-Night). Tickets

Third Test WACA Ground, December 14-18. Tickets

Fourth Test MCG, December 26-30. Tickets

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Tickets

Gillette ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21