Andy Flower is saddened every time he hears Kevin Pietersen booed as he walks to the crease to bat for England in his native South Africa.

Pietersen, still searching for a first big score since his return to the team after four months out with an Achilles injury, has received a hostile reception from the crowd at each venue in the ongoing one-day international series.

It was especially notable yesterday at Port Elizabeth, where England won by seven wickets to go 2-1 up with one match to play.

That final fixture is set to take place on Friday at Kingsmead, once Pietermaritzburg-born Pietersen's home ground - where a significant contribution from him would be particularly fitting.

Captain Andrew Strauss insisted last night that the booing of Pietersen is of no concern to England.

But coach Flower appears to have a different view.

"I think it's really disappointing to hear booing of a great cricketer walking out to compete for his country," he said.

"I think that's sad.

"I didn't like hearing boos when (Ricky) Ponting walked out to bat (in last summer's Ashes); I don't like hearing them when someone's taking a conversion in rugby."

Asked what may be the reason Pietersen is getting all the rough treatment - while the home crowds show little interest in booing England's other South Africa-born players, such as Jonathan Trott - Flower suggests: "I think there's a bit of the pantomime villain scenario."

Either way, though, he does not see the heckling getting to England's inked-in ODI number three.

"I think he's used to that sort of reaction. I really don't think it affects him," he said.

As for Pietersen's lack of significant runs in his comeback so far, Flower is merely waiting for the inevitable.

"I'm sure he is frustrated, because he chases success - and quite rightly," he said.

"But I don't think he'll be fretting. He's working very hard, and I'm sure he will score heavy runs at some stage of this tour. I don't see a problem."

There is no problem either any more with fast bowler James Anderson, whose maiden five-wicket haul helped England to victory at St George's.

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Yet Flower revealed today that Anderson - who has also stubbed and maybe even broken a toe on his left foot - was at one early stage close to being rested from the series to allow his knee injury to settle down.

"We were worried at one stage; we thought of pulling him from the one-day series completely," said the coach.

"We took a little bit of a gamble to play him in the first match at Centurion.

"Some of the (medical) advice was not to play him. But we thought we'd better play him to see how his knee reacts to a 10-over spell and 50 overs in the field.

"He was very surprised by how well he came through it, and so were the medical people - and now it's getting better every day."

That is just as well for England - because Flower identifies Anderson's bowling and Trott's runs as two of the main reasons England have managed to put themselves on the verge of a series victory against their high-profile hosts.

"I think the emergence of Anderson as a more consistent threat with the ball and Trott as a consistent, solid man at one end will contribute to us winning more games," he predicted.

Even so, looking ahead to next month's Test series, Flower concedes England go in as second favourites against the world's best team.

"We're still significant underdogs. That's the reality," he accepts.

"I don't like it that way. I'd much prefer us to be firm favourites - because that would mean our percentage chances of winning are greater."

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