England cricket captain Michael Vaughan believes his side has Australia under pressure in the third Ashes Test at Old Trafford.

Vaughan returned to form with a magnificent 166 in his side's first-day total of 5-341, and was delighted with the way England kept Australia's bowlers and fielders under pressure.

The Australians dropped four catches on day one - wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist grassed two one-handed attempts - and missed a golden run out chance when Simon Katich missed the stumps from close range.

Vaughan was granted another reprieve when he was bowled by a Glenn McGrath no-ball.

Only two late wickets to Brett Lee (3-58) kept Australia in the contest as not even the return of McGrath from an ankle injury and Shane Warne's 600th Test wicket could fire up the tourists.

Vaughan, who had made only 32 runs in his four previous Test innings this Ashes series, told his side how important it was to fight hard on day one.

"It's been a real good first day for us," he said.

"We went out and played well, rode our luck at stages but we played really nicely and put Australia under a lot of pressure.

"We're a pretty young team and we play with quite a bit of enjoyment factor but also quite a lot of intensity.

"That's what we try to set out to do, try to put them under pressure in the field and see what happens."

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