Joe Root plans to drop back to his favoured No. 4 spot in the England batting order for the Test series against New Zealand - and stay there.

Root moved up one place to No. 3 most recently during the drawn Ashes series over the English summer, scoring 325 runs at an average of 32.50. It was expected before the tour of New Zealand that Root would return to No. 4 and he batted there in the first warm-up match in Whangarei.

"I'd like to be consistent with it now, moving forward," he told the BBC. "It doesn't always work exactly how you want it to but it would be nice for that to be the case.

"I just think it suits my game a little bit more. It definitely fits in with captaincy a little bit better for me.

"I know previous captains have preferred to get out there early and just get amongst it but I quite like to split the two and to really focus on my batting. I've found over time that, generally, I've consistently played better in that position."

Root had batted at No. 3 previously, spending much of 2016 there before he was captain, although he reverted to No. 4 as soon as he took on the leadership. He returned to No. 3 during the English summer of 2018 but struggled for runs and dropped back down again. Overall, he averages 38.12 batting at first drop and 48.39 while batting at No. 4.

The side selected for the second warm-up match, also in Whangarei, starting on Friday, is expected to mirror the first Test line-up.

Root's move back down the order would mean Joe Denly also moves down a spot to No. 3 after recovering from an ankle injury that ruled him out of the T20 series in New Zealand. Denly would likely replace Zak Crawley, who scored a century in his first innings as an England player during the tour match earlier this week, with Rory Burns set to open alongside debutant Dom Sibley.

"We haven't officially picked a team yet," Root said of the side to face a New Zealand XI in the final warm-up fixture. "As you'd expect, the majority of that will go and play the first Test match."

The first of two Tests starts at Mount Maunganui on November 21, although neither is part of the World Test Championship.