England [Images] coach Duncan Fletcher insists the absence of Steve Harmison will not distract the team from focussing on the immediate issue of winning the third and final Test against India to square the series.

"Sometimes these things happen," Fletcher told a news conference on Friday. "We have lost experienced players before and we just have to live with it."

Strike bowler Harmison was ruled out of the third Test starting on Saturday with a bone stress injury in his right shin.

The Durham paceman sustained the injury during the second Test in Mohali, which the tourists lost by nine wickets to fall 1-0 behind in the series.

Harmison is the latest addition to the England's injury list after captain Michael Vaughan [Images] and paceman Simon Jones returned home due to respective knee and ankle problems.

Fletcher said England would probably go into the decider with five specialist bowlers to force a victory, though the combination had yet to be decided.

"If we go in with four, it will put an enormous amount of pressure on (stand-in skipper) Andrew Flintoff [Images]," the coach said.

"We'll have to look at the wicket and see if we need one or two spinners."

HUGE BLOW

India captain Rahul Dravid [Images] admitted that Harmison's absence was a huge blow for the visitors.

"He has been a stand-out performer, bowled very well in the last Test match," Dravid said.

"But that would mean we'd be up against someone new, which will be a fresh challenge for us."

Dravid will become only the sixth Indian to chalk up 100 Tests while Sachin Tendulkar [Images] will become the most capped Indian at test level when he makes his 132nd appearance.

However, the skipper said personal milestones will not distract India from the job in hand.

"While it is always special to play your 100th game, the focus really is on playing good cricket and trying to win," Dravid told reporters on Friday.

"We are not going to be defensive at all," he added.

"Our philosophy is to get 20 wickets in the test match. Whether we go in with four or five bowlers, the idea is still to attack and win irrespective of the scoreline."

"To go with an extra batsman is a tempting feeling too, but we will decide on it tomorrow."

"Statistics and numbers are great and nice to reflect on, but you just have to focus on cricket because the basics are very important," added the 33-year-old Dravid, who made his test debut against England at Lord's in 1996 and averages an impressive 58.16.

Dravid will join Kapil Dev [Images], Sunil Gavaskar [Images], Dilip Vengsarkar, Tendulkar and Anil Kumble [Images] in the list of players who have played 100 tests for India.