After watching his England side hang on in controversial fashion to beat Tonga 20-18 in the Rugby League World Cup semi-final, coach Wayne Bennett was brutally honest about their chances in next weekend's decider against the Kangaroos.
MORE: Bennett backs Cecchin's controversial RLWC semi-final call
Having fallen to Australia 18-4 in the tournament's opening game nearly a month ago, England have gone on to win every other game but haven't been anywhere near as clinical the Kangaroos.
Rather fortunate to walk away from England's semi-final clash as a winner, Bennett isn't getting his hopes up about an upset in the final.
"Probably not," Bennett replied post-match when asked if England could lift the trophy.
"But we'll be there next week...we'll still go to the game."
While England clung to victory against Tonga, Australia steamrolled Fiji 54-6 in their semi-final and will be hot favourites to win consecutive World Cups having conceded just 16 points from five matches.
Having seen England up close, Tonga coach Kristian Woolf is a little bit more optimistic than Bennett about their chances in the decider.
"They're going to defend well, going to be very hard to score points against, and England were very tough to score points against tonight," Woolf said.
"I've had good looks at England and New Zealand.
"I really haven't had a good look at Australia, except for what we've seen against Fiji last night...they were outstanding.
"They're going to be very hard to beat and always are.
"I'd certainly like to think England make it a real contest."
England and Australia will contest the final at Suncorp Stadium on December 2.
