Rehan Ahmed says England still believe despite chastening day in Pakistan

Rehan Ahmed insisted the game was “still level” and that England were “very positive” after a day dominated by Pakistan ended with the tourists three wickets down in their second innings and 53 runs behind.

Saud Shakeel’s painstaking 134, scored over the course of five hours and eight minutes and featuring 86 singles with just five boundaries, helped Pakistan post 344 and claim a first-innings lead of 77. With nine overs to face before stumps England stumbled to 24 for three, but if their situation appears dire their morale remains high.

Related: England on brink of series defeat as wickets tumble after Pakistan fightback

“We’re still positive,” Rehan said. “There’s no sense of negativity or heads down. Everyone knows there’s a job to do and we can’t wait to do it.

“There’s so much batting to come and we’re still very positive in the changing room. The momentum is with them at the moment, but ­hopefully we can soak it up a bit, put it back on them and try to get a lead.

“I think it’s still level, isn’t it? We’ve got so much batting in the locker room. Obviously, three down is not ideal, but it is what it is.”

Rehan took four wickets on his return to the side after eight months, including three in five overs in the half-hour before lunch as England briefly took control. “I still don’t think that’s my best bowling,” he said. “I can be another level or two above this. As long as I keep learning and as long as I keep enjoying it, I’ll be good. I’m one of the luckiest guys in the world the way I see it.”

After lunch Shakeel’s partnerships with Noman Ali and Sajid Khan, which were worth a combined 160, changed the course of the game, his method ideally suited to a surface on which most batters have struggled. “When you play on such a pitch you can get any ball that does something unpredictable,” Shakeel said. “You just have to have a clear mind and plan. For example, I didn’t play too many sweep shots even though I ­normally rely on them a lot.

“I really enjoyed batting with Noman and Sajid. The way they took them on, they made my life easier. I didn’t have to do much, just keep busy with my singles.”

Related: Mitchell Santner blitzes India to give New Zealand sniff of historic series win

Sajid, who ended the innings unbeaten with a run-a-ball 48 that included four sixes, claimed he had hoodwinked England by plying their two Urdu-speaking bowlers, Rehan and Shoaib Bashir, with deliberate misinformation. “We were doing it to deceive them,” he said. “We wanted them to hear we were only looking for the single. When we did that they brought the field up and Shakeel told me once they do, no half measures – just go for the big shot, as hard as you can.”

But Rehan denied that he had taken the bait. “He didn’t fool me or anything,” he said. “He just said, not that I even heard him, something like, ‘I’m gonna run down this ball,’ and I knew he was going to try and scoop me so it didn’t really work. He batted well, but he didn’t really fool me or Bash.”