Brian McDermott on Mikey Lewis and England's half-back dilemma

George Williams and Harry Smith will continue against France despite England's struggles to turn promising attacking positions into points in last week's damaging loss to Tonga.

Points are the only currency for McDermott's men in their remaining two group matches but Lewis remains on the sidelines.

Asked if he had considered a change in the halves, McDermott replied: "For sure.

"Mikey Lewis is a tremendous player and you've got to wonder whether he'd give us something that we haven't got.

"For sure it's been considered but I thought George was good against Tonga. I know he was involved in a couple of errors when we started playing too hot but I think he's been unfairly assessed.

"I thought Harry Smith was really good. We were coordinated both in yardage attack and good ball attack.

"We got held up over the line four times in the game and there was another try-saver from Tonga."

Lewis' inclusion in the original squad raised some eyebrows after a disjointed end to the Super League season with Hull KR, missing seven of the final 10 games due to disciplinary issues.

Nevertheless, the former Man of Steel is a fierce competitor with boundless energy and sitting on the sidelines while England struggle to find an attacking edge is unlikely to come easily.

But McDermott has been impressed by the way Lewis has handled his disappointment at missing out on the opening two games.

"He's good," said the England boss.

"It was a frustrating end to the season for him but he won a World Club Challenge at the start of the year and was involved in a final.

"He's been great around the camp and knows his role. He's shown a lot of humility in the camp, as have a few other players.

"He's been really good to work with."

McDermott also resisted calls for a change at hooker following the 30-12 defeat to Tonga.

Brad O'Neill has retained his starting spot, meaning Hull KR's Jez Litten must settle for a place on the bench after a second-half cameo on the opening weekend.

"They're both quality nines," said McDermott.

"I thought Brad was enormous defensively in particular in that game. We're very fortunate to have Jez as back-up to a quality nine like Brad O'Neill."

McDermott originally named an unchanged team for the clash with France but revealed during Thursday's media briefing that Matty Ashton would replace Zach Eckersley on the left wing.

He insisted the decision was "not a performance thing".

"I thought Zach was good," said McDermott, who will give Morgan Knowles every chance to prove his fitness for the final group match as he continues to manage a calf issue.

"He had a moment where he bobbled a ball on a high catch but I was impressed with how he handled that. He carried the ball in really tough positions for us and dealt with a load of high-pressure catches after that.

"But we're in a tournament where I need to have a look at a few people so Matty Ashton goes on the wing this week."

Yet that is the only change to the team that fell short against Tonga.

McDermott defended that decision by pointing to the limited preparation time available before the tournament.

"I woke up on Sunday and didn't feel like there needed to be a load of changes given that performance," he said.

"This is the first hit-out we’ve had, the first time we came together. We had two field sessions together after the players had a very long journey to get to Perth. They flew over Perth and past Perth to Sydney and then came back to Perth.

"The players were still feeling those levels of fatigue on the Monday they got here so we only really had two proper sessions. That's why I'm so confident with the cohesion that we had with that in mind."

England's objective for Saturday is simple: win and win well.

The semi-final hopefuls must beat France and Papua New Guinea convincingly before an anxious wait to see if Tonga can do them a favour against Samoa in the final match of the group stage.

McDermott expressed his disappointment at the format in the aftermath of last week's game and has doubled down on those comments.

While he acknowledged it may have been different had France hosted the World Cup as planned, McDermott believes the scaled-back 10-team tournament is too unforgiving.

"The jeopardy of losing one game in a pool of three is so harsh," he said. "It's almost like we don't get another chance to straighten things out.

"There's still a slim chance that we get through and that's something we're focusing on. We remain determined.

"It's just harsh that we have to take a standing eight count in that first round but we're ready to go again."