England's second-innings fightback in the first Ashes Test was "vitally important" to show they can compete in the series, says Dawid Malan.
Australia dismissed England for 147 in the first innings and then amassed 425 but Malan (80 not out) and Joe Root (86 not out) led the tourists to 220-2 to finish day three 58 behind in Brisbane.
"What we did was fantastic, [but] the job is not yet done," said Malan.
"It's about scoring a big 100 which will potentially change the game."
Rory Burns was caught behind off an "absolute jaffa of a ball" from Pat Cummins for 13 and fellow opener Haseeb Hameed was strangled down the legside by Mitchell Starc for 27 as England made a stuttering start to erasing the 278-run first-innings deficit.
At 61-2, Malan - alongside captain Root - led England's recovery to give his side some hope, but with a new ball available to Australia 11 overs into day four, Malan is remaining cautious.
"As soon as we think too far ahead you open the door for Australia and they are so brilliant at closing that door," he added.
"The first hour will be really important and then we can think about how well we can play.
"We need one good 100-run partnership to put a good score on the board and then who knows what can happen."
'I thought I'd never play another Test again'
Malan, 33, is playing in his 18th Test for England, having been recalled to the red-ball team for the first time in three years during last summer's home series against India.
"I thought I'd never play another Test again," he says.
"When me and Root were both on about 40, the Barmy Army were singing and I said to him that I really missed this.
"I missed someone trying to blow my head off, the crowd going and playing against the best bowlers."
Malan says Root's record in 2021 "speaks for itself", after the skipper set a new record for most Test runs scored by an Englishman in a calendar year.
Root moved past Michael Vaughan's mark of 1,461 and has now scored 1,541 runs as he also closes in on what would be his seventh century of the year and a first in Australia.
"Batting with Joe is great," Malan says. "He takes the pressure off you, always looks to score and somehow puts the pressure back on the bowlers.
"It's great signs for us as a team that Joe is playing well and leading from the front."
