Joe Root has conceded that now is the time for England to "step up" if they are to overturn the deficit in Sri Lanka.

The six-wicket defeat in Colombo on Sunday has left England trailing their hosts 3-1, with three more one-day international encounters to come.

Ahead of the fifth contest in Kandy tomorrow, batsman Root has called on his teammates to produce the sort of performance that will keep their hopes of winning the series alive.

"I think we have showed in every game at some point along the way that we are capable of doing that," he told reporters.

"The thing for us now is to put it in one complete performance. I think even the game we did win we didn't play at our absolute best, which is promising. But you don't want to talk about being promising all the time. Now is the time for us to step up and start putting in performances."

In England's four matches against Sri Lanka, Root has contributed 140 runs.