Australia's David Warner Ready for Ashes Hostilities at Edgbaston

David Warner is braced to be the centre of crowd hostilities when the Ashes moves on to Birmingham, scene of one of his most infamous moments, next week but the Australia batsman insists he is comfortable being public enemy No. 1.

Alongside Mitchell Johnson, Warner has received the bulk of the Barmy Army's flak since the Ashes began this month. For the 28-year-old, whose reformed ways on this tour include abstinence from alcohol, the Edgbaston match offers a reminder of why. (Ravi Bopara, England's forgotten man, hopes for one more Ashes opportunity)

Two years ago, he was disciplined by Cricket Australia after a physical attack on Joe Root in the city's Walkabout bar during the Champions Trophy; his board-imposed ban from the warm-up matches in effect ruled him out of the start of the 2013 series. (Gary Ballance will be Back, says his Ashes Replacement Jonny Bairstow)

It was certainly an upgrade on not walking, the offence Stuart Broad committed later that summer at Trent Bridge , to fuel the ire of Australia fans during the 2013-14 tour, and ahead of the three-day warm-up match against Derbyshire that starts on Thursday, Warner accepts it is now his turn, along with Johnson, to "cop criticism."

He said: "When we read the papers at home [during the 2013-14 series], the Courier-Mail gave it to Stuart Broad. We sit back and laugh at it, but when we go over to England we know we are going to be the ones they are going to have a go at. (Last Ring for Ian Bell in Third Test, Feels Geoffrey Boycott)

"But that's great. For us it is about going out and playing positive cricket. You are going to cop criticism wherever you go. You can't keep everyone happy and it is our job - my job to score runs, his is to take wickets - to do the best for the team. If we keep doing that we look after ourselves." (Michael Clarke Rubbishes Talk of Flat Pitches)

Warner has also received criticism from back home, with his predecessor Matthew Hayden speaking out against the batsman's failure to applaud Root's hundred during England's first Test triumph in Cardiff. It is a claim that Warner strongly refutes. "If the camera stayed on me for the five minutes that he celebrated they would have seen me clap alongside all the other guys," he responded.

"The captions used are always going to be a snapshot of you doing something and the time that photo was taken was probably a minute and a half after he raised his bat. We all clapped; we always do; we always will continue acknowledging people's knocks."

Meanwhile, although brandishing Ian Bell an "easy" wicket less than 24 hours earlier, Warner suggested on Wednesday that England's move to revert him to No3 for what could prove to be the pivotal Test of the series was the correct call.

The 33-year-old struck three hundreds to finish man of the series in the 3-0 Ashes win two years ago but has accumulated just 73 runs in four innings at the start of this campaign.

England desperately need him to hit form if they are going to get back into this series with the score level at 1-1 following Australia's thumping victory at Lord's on Sunday.

"Bell has the weight of runs behind him and the experience. I think he's a world-class player," Warner said. "In my view he's out of touch at the moment, but we know what he's capable of. He killed us last time we were over here.

"He's been out in the middle a bit earlier [than he would have wanted] and you are under pressure when a few wickets fall before you. I think No3 is probably the right move for them."