Adam Ashley-Cooper disagrees the Wallabies have already played their grand final against the British and Irish Lions and says Australia’s backs can improve a lot in the final Test.

The veteran centre scored a crucial late try in the second Test in Melbourne, where the Wallabies squeezed out a one-point win to level the three-match series.

Ashley-Cooper gave short shrift to the suggestion the Wallabies had played their grand final in Melbourne.

“I think we’ve got a lot more in us, I thought the game (on Saturday) wasn’t of great standard,” Ashley-Cooper said.

“We made a lot of improvements from game one, but we certainly feel we’ve got a lot more improvements to make.”

Ashley-Cooper felt wingers Joe Tomane and Israel Folau could be more dangerous if the Wallabies got the ball out wide more often in the Sydney decider on Saturday.

“I think we didn’t allow them through our line once I think they had zero line breaks, so that’s a really good stat and a good reflection of how we work defensively,” Ashley-Cooper said.

“I think for us a lot of improvement can be made in the backs.

“Possession was a bit of a issue. We need to hold onto the ball more.

“We’ve got too many threats in the backline to waste, so we’re hoping to get the ball into the wider channels this week.”

He felt the Lions might be feeling the pinch mentally and physically at the end of a long season but wasn’t sure that would be an advantage to Australia on Saturday.

“They’ve had some physical encounters with all the Australian provincial teams, so no doubt they are feeling it mentally and physically,” Ashley-Cooper said

“But we certainly don’t see that as an advantage or a distraction.

“We’ve got two games under our belt and we’re feeling really confident out of the win on Saturday night.”

He said the Lions would get a great boost if big centre Jamie Roberts was cleared to play on Saturday after missing the first two Tests.