Paul Collingwood insisted England had not given up hope of beating Pakistan despite ending the third day of the second Test on a near-exhausted pitch on 36 for two, still 261 runs from a distant and testing target. “We’ll still have belief,” the assistant coach said. “It’ll be a hell of a chase, but we’ve got to be realistic – it’s a tough ask.”

England’s pursuit started dismally, with Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley both falling within the first four overs. Their only real cause for optimism is the ease – at least once he had benefited from two dropped catches while still in single figures – with which Salman Agha scored 63 late-innings runs as Pakistan reached 221 in their second knock.

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“We’ve got to be realistic, it’s going to be a tough chase on what is effectively the ninth day that this wicket’s been played on,” Collingwood said. “But this team’s capable of some special things, and it’s got some batters who can put bowlers under pressure in these kinds of conditions. We all know if you get on a roll, and get a partnership going, anything can happen.”

Collingwood said that victory in this match would be a greater achievement even than last week’s record-smashing success in the opening Test, which was played on the same Multan pitch. “I think it would, under the circumstances and the conditions we’ve been given,” he said. “The amazing thing now is there’s still hope, and there’s only hope because of the amazing things these guys have done in the past.”

But England will not rein in their attacking instincts in a match situation that might send some players into their shells. “The stats will tell you when you are chasing on day four, if you prod around and don’t try to put the bowler under pressure you will get caught by the close fielders,” Collingwood said. “We will not go away from our mantra. Our mantra is to soak up pressure when we need to but apply as much pressure as we possibly can when you get the opportunity.”

It was Salman’s 65-run ninth-wicket partnership with the irrepressible Sajid Khan that stretched England’s chances of taking a 2-0 lead in the series from the feasible to the far-fetched, with Pakistan’s selection gamble for this game – dropping several of their most well-known players and stuffing their side with spinners – apparently set to pay off.

“I was thinking it would be hard because there was a lot of big changes,” Salman said. “The way the new guys have come in, it is very good for Pakistan cricket. It will be massive [to win] because we haven’t won a Test match at home for I don’t know how many years now. It will be a big thing for us and we will put all our efforts there.”