Eoin Morgan has insisted that England can win the World Twenty20 competition without Kevin Pietersen.

The ECB left Pietersen out of the squad for the tournament in Sri Lanka following his well-documented troubles with Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower.

However, Morgan believes that England have the quality to defend their title despite admitting his absence is a big loss to the team.

The batsman said: "We have the solidity of the guys up front and then Ravi Bopara, myself and Craig Kieswetter to come in means there is a structure that remains very similar.

"I still think we have the skills in the side to be as explosive and as powerful as when Kev was in the side.

"I think we can win it without Kevin."

England begin the tournament on September 21 with a match against Afghanistan in Pallekele.