Hussey has an average of 105.25 in thre Ashes series

He expects the tourists, 4-0 down in the series, to battle hard as they seek to salvage some pride in Sydney, with the match starting on 2 January.

Hussey said: "England will be desperate - they won't want to lose 5-0 and it's their last chance in Sydney.

"I'm sure they'll put in a huge effort and we must be ready for that."

Australia are eager to turn the screw against Andrew Flintoff's men and become the first side since Warwick Armstrong's 1920-21 line-up to claim a 5-0 clean sweep against England.

I know we won in Melbourne very convincingly but there were times when we were challenged. Michael Hussey

But left-hander Hussey, the top run-scorer in the series with 421, insists his team haven't always had it easy.

"Every Test match has been a challenge," he said.

"I know we won the last Test in Melbourne very convincingly but there were certainly times when we were challenged.

"We were 84-5 at one stage, so there have definitely been times when we've been challenged and that's been the case throughout the series.

"Brisbane was a very tough Test match, as were Adelaide and Perth so I'm expecting another tough one."

Hussey knows many of the England team through playing county cricket and was Monty Panesar's captain for a time at Northampton.

He also played alongside Paul Collingwood and Steve Harmison for Durham in the last two summers and admits the on-pitch rivalry with his ex-team-mates has added an extra dimension to the series.

"It's very intense competition against them, probably more intense than with the players I don't know well," he added.

"Steve Harmison is always snarling and growling at me when I'm facing him and he's bowling fast, and Monty and Paul Collingwood are such great competitors as well.

"There is no quarter asked and certainly none given when we're out in the middle, but afterwards we're always very cordial and it's good to catch up.