Australia's Scott Boland says he has his 'own internal motivations' ahead of the Ashes

Boland is expected to line-up for Australia in the first Ashes Test in Perth on 21 November with captain Pat Cummins increasingly unlikely to be fit.

England captain Michael Atherton wrote in the Times that the visiting batters will "hold no fear" for seamer Boland.

When asked if those comments will spur him on, Boland said: "I've got my own internal motivations for what I want to do for the summer. I've never gone into a game where I'm just middling along.

"I guess there's always some motivation for me to try and either come into the team and try to put in a really good performance, to try and keep my spot.

"There's so many good fast bowlers in Australia that you just don't want to give anyone an inch. So that's sort of my goal when I'm playing Test cricket."

The fast bowler has now played two rounds of domestic first-class cricket for Victoria but will miss the next round of matches as Australia look to manage his workload.

Boland is expected to return to action for another four-day fixture against New South Wales in a game that is likely to feature Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon.

"I've got two really good games of work into my body now," Boland said. "My body's feeling really good. No issues with any my knees or anything like that that have been little niggles in the past.

"So I'm really happy with how it's tracking. It'd be nice to have a few days off now and get some strength back in, because I know that when I'm doing that, my body's feeling great, and I feel like I can get through as many games as needed for the summer."