Ian Bell knows someone may be cast as understudy on England's one-day international tour of India, as the competition for middle-order batting positions hots up.
Even with England's inked-in limited-overs lynchpin Eoin Morgan out injured, the return of Kevin Pietersen, the presence of Jonathan Bairstow to represent a talented crop of emerging batsmen - and a resurgence in Ravi Bopara's stop-start career - all mean neither Bell nor anyone else can take selection for granted.
The 29-year-old and his team-mates will today get down to preparation and acclimatisation in earnest, having arrived in India yesterday, for what will be a hectic run of five ODIs and a Twenty20 in the space of just 15 days.
Before then, two warm-up matches in Hyderabad on Saturday and next Tuesday will provide early hints of captain Alastair Cook and coach Andy Flower's plans for personnel deployment.
Invited to assess who might fit in where, Bell makes no secret of the fact he would love to move up into the top three - yet he knows those positions look reserved for Cook himself, Craig Kieswetter and Jonathan Trott.
Asked if the top order is settled already, he said: "It looks it.
"We have a strong batting unit, and someone's going to have to miss out. But that's just the realism of having a good side.
"So whatever happens, I'll be working as hard as I can to make sure I'm in that XI."
After 107 ODIs so far, Bell has yet to make the telling strides he belatedly has in Test cricket to make himself indispensable to England.
"I guess I've been a bit up and down the order, which doesn't help the amount of runs I've scored. I don't know what's going to happen in this squad or on this tour. But I've got to work hard - and if I get an opportunity I have to grab it.
"You know you're not going to play every single game. The XI's going to change all the time, but that's a good thing. If I had my own choice, I'd rather be in the top three. But you've got to be flexible, because that's not always going to happen.
"I know one of my strengths is playing spin, so if the team want me to play a certain role then I'll have to do that the best I can. In one-day cricket I haven't nailed my position, and that's honest. It's fair. So I have to be adaptable. If the opportunity comes at five, I've got to take that."
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Bell fared admirably from number four, without hitting headlines instead stolen by Bopara and then Bairstow in England's rain-affected 3-0 NatWest Series victory at home to India last month.
"It would have been nice to go on and get big scores, but in a way I played cameos which allowed other people to play the anchor and bat through," he said.
"I was pleased with the strike-rate and the way I wanted to play, but I would have liked to get more big scores."
