Flintoff missed much of the summer to have ankle surgery

The England captain did not bowl a spell of longer than five overs in the first three Test defeats.

"It's no secret I've had discomfort in it over the past week or so and the injection is just precautionary.

"I'm not envisaging any long-term problems or worrying about these next two Test matches," he insisted.

Report: Australia relaxed ahead of Fourth Ashes Test

News conference: England captain Andrew Flintoff

All-rounder Flintoff missed the second half of the domestic season after undergoing another bout of surgery on the ankle.

He did not bowl in the nets on Saturday, with the fourth Test looming on 26 December.

"My ankle is an area where I have got some discomfort, but if you speak to a lot of bowlers they will tell you they've got areas of their body which aren't 100%," he said.

"My area is my ankle and it's something I'm going to have live with."

There are quite a few games in the one-day series, but I'm going to go into it as a fit player Andrew Flintoff

Flintoff bowled only 28 overs during the third Test in Perth, where victory for Australia sealed another Ashes series victory for the hosts.

In comparison, fellow paceman Steve Harmison sent down 43 overs.

"In the last Test match the number of overs I bowled was more of a reflection of how I bowled as opposed to my fitness," he argued.

"Both Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard were fantastic and from my point of view I didn't bowl as well as I'd have liked to which kept my number of overs down."

Flintoff faces another intense examination of his ankle, with back-to-back Tests in Melbourne and Sydney followed by just a few days off before the start of the one-day series.

But he would prefer to play in every game, despite England facing a gruelling schedule of a Twenty20 international and at least eight one-day internationals in the space of 29 days.