Pietersen's absencewon't hurt us: Swann

London: England offspinner Graeme Swann has said that the absence of Kevin Pietersen will not affect their preparation for the third and final Test against South Africa at Lord's. We need to pull in the same direction, not 10 ofus doing it and one of us not. Just because you lose one player, it doesn't necessarily make you a weaker team, Swann said in his columnfor the Sun. In fact, since Kevin retired from limited-overs cricket, we are unbeaten in all matches in the shorter formats, he added. Pietersen was dropped by England after he allegedly sent some 'derogatory' text messages about his team-mates to some of his South African counterparts after the Headingley Test. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) delayed the England team selection by five hours on Sunday so that Pietersen could clarify hisstand or apologise if he had sent those messages.But no answer from the 32-year-old prompted ECB to take a stern actionof axing him from the third Test, setting a precedent for the rest that sanctity of the team always comes first. Pietersen played one of the finest innings of his life as his Man-of-the-Match 149 saved Headingley Test for England. But his post-match conference after the Leeds Test in which he hinted at dressing-room unrest lefthis team-mates and many others dumbfounded. I watched a video of Kevin's press conference last Monday at Headingley, when he spoke about supposed problems in the dressing room, Swann said. I was certainly shocked by those claims. I don't know if there were developments during theweek at Headingley afterI left, but it was news to me. And, speaking to a couple of the other lads, it was news to them as well. I'd just say that, if there were issues, we pride ourselves on having a very open dressing room and he certainly didn't mention any problems to anyone else. Moreover, allrounder TimBresnan was of the sameopinion as Swann and said, It may be an even better side. It's one of those things where a talented player has been replaced by another talented player. Why should we miss certain individuals just because they're not available for selection?. Bresnan said the spirit among the squad, who are 1-0 down in the series, had not been destabilised. We met up yesterday, the mood in the camp was exceptional. It's just like it always is. Always relaxed, quite focused, but we've always got thedriving desire to