I'm doing everything pain-free - Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen has said he would be fit for the first Test against Australia on July 8 since he was doing all his exercises "pain-free" and had recovered significantly from the Achilles injury which many feared would rule him out of the entire series.

Pietersen picked up the injury during the tour of West Indies and was forced out of the one-day series when the same team visited England in May. He did play four matches in ICC World Twenty20 earlier this month.

"It's fantastic I'm doing everything now pain-free," Pietersen told journalists during a Vodafone event in Essex. "The only thing I've not been able to do is road run and that's something we'll talk about in the next few days. Every single morning I'm waking up absolutely fine.

"Every single day I've been as professional as I can be. I've tried to make sure that going into an Ashes series I'm not injured. I've seen too many players do that and particularly against the Australians - you don't tend to last the series. The improvements have been huge, for me, for my mental side of things - it is very encouraging."

Earlier this month Pietersen said the pain was so bad he couldn't walk down the stairs of his house. It was diagnosed as a back problem that affects the achilles and he was expected to need two to three months of rest. Pietersen then said if required he would use painkillers to get through the Ashes.

England are looking to regain the Ashes that they lost 5-0 in Australia in 2006-07. Pietersen said most players who were part of that tour still felt the pain and anger of the loss. "I don't think it's a case of revenge, I think it's a case of going out there and playing positive cricket and backing the lads that we've got in the dressing room," Pietersen told Sky Sports. He also said the team had been playing consistently well over the last six months.

"The vibe in the dressing room is fantastic, the guys have played some awesome, awesome cricket; all the batters are getting hundreds, all the bowlers are getting wickets and we're holding our catches. All being well it's going to be a fantastic series and I'm not going to get into any talk about who's going to win, who's going to lose, I just think that the team that plays the best cricket over 25 days is going to win the series and that's it."