Returning captain Ben Stokes insisted he had been “man enough” to apologise to his England teammates after missing the last Test for breaching a curfew.

Stokes and fast bowler Gus Atkinson were dropped from the second Test against New Zealand after breaking a midnight curfew in an incident at a London nightclub celebrating England’s first win in the series opener at Lord’s.

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In their absence, an England team led by stand-in captain Joe Root and showing five changes – including three debutants – suffered a 253-run thrashing at the Oval as New Zealand levelled the series at 1-1 heading into the Nottingham finale at Trent Bridge starting on Thursday.

The curfew breach came following the drinking controversies that marred England’s 4-1 Ashes defeat in Australia.

Both Stokes and Atkinson, issued with a written conduct warning while cleared of any wrongdoing in a physical altercation, have been restored to the England team for the series decider.

NZ chase victory in 2nd test v England | 00:58

Stokes said he was “back properly” for the finale, but declined to say if he was back for good while speaking to reporters at Trent Bridge on Wednesday – his first public comment on the incident since he was omitted from the second Test.

“I hope you (the media) respect in terms of this whole week, I’m (only) focusing on this week,” he said.

“That’s where my focus is at right now … I’m here as captain of this team and all I want to do is get the team focused on winning here,” insisted Stokes, who made 95 for county side Durham last week.

“We are 1-1 in a three-match series and this week is massive for the team.”

Stokes, asked if he had apologised to the team when he spoke before training on Wednesday, said: “Of course. That was one of the first things I had to do as captain.

“It would be stupid and naive of me not to acknowledge and address that. It’s something you do have to do, as someone who has responsibility of being a leader in a group.

“It’s all fine, everything being fine and dandy, when it’s going well but you need to take responsibility for things as well.

“You need to be big enough and man enough to be able to take that upon your shoulders, look everyone in the eye who it’s affected and apologise how you need to apologise. That’s something I did.”

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Speaking later to Sky Sports, Stokes confessed he was “frustrated and disappointed” with how the curfew saga unfolded.

“Everything’s happened, I can’t change what has happened, but what I can do is affect what we do going forward. How I conduct myself from here onwards is the only thing that I can control,” he said.

“I can’t control or change what happened in the past.”

He added: “Now, what do I need to do as captain? Look forward. We’ve got a massive week coming up here, so I have to get everyone’s mind onto this game because at the end of the day, it’s 1-1, we’ve got one game left, and we need to win the series. I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job of what I needed to do.”

While Stokes admitted the captaincy has taken its toll, he feels more liberated following the conclusion of the investigation.

“If I were to sit here and say I’ve done this job for four years and it’s been no stress, it’s been nothing that’s come of it, you know that I’ll be lying,” he continued.

NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND – JUNE 24: England captain Ben Stokes speaks to the media during for the first time since the nightclub saga.Source: Getty Images

“It’s a job that requires resilience. It’s a job that requires time. It’s a job that requires so much effort.

“You’re never really able to switch off from it. You’re always on. Over the last six months, I guess I could look back on whether I have thrown myself a bit too much into it? Have I given myself enough slack after Australia?

“Maybe I was a little bit too hard on myself? Over the last couple of weeks, I’ll be truthful: It could have almost all been taken away from you again, so just relax a bit and go out there and enjoy it.

“It has been a tough two weeks. But somehow, trying to find the positive has sort of allowed me to feel a little freer than I probably have done in times before this.

“It’s a little bit weird, I guess, hearing me saying I found a positive out of it.”

Stokes not guaranteed captain’s spot | 01:15

In a subsequent interview with the BBC, Stokes said the incident had led him to consider if he could continue to represent England just as a member of the team after four years as captain.

“I’m 35 now and, even before this stuff all happened, I thought, ‘Could I ever see myself playing for England and not being captain?’. It’s a question I’ve never really been able to answer,” he said.

“I love playing for England, I love being captain of this team and that’s where I’m at with everything.”

Stokes refused to be drawn on the vexed issue of whether players knew the curfew still applied the night after a match had finished, as well as during a game.

But he was more forthcoming about his relationship with head coach Brendon McCullum, saying reports of a rift with the former New Zealand captain that first surfaced during the Ashes loss were wide of the mark.

“It’s been a big misconception around me and Brendon,” said Stokes.

“We are genuinely very good mates.

“We certainly haven’t drifted apart, as there’s a bit of speculation about. Not agreeing on everything shouldn’t be seen as a divide between me and Brendon.”

Stokes is set to get an enthusiastic reception in Nottingham and he acknowledged the public backing he had received during his brief international exile.

“It’s something I don’t want overlooked, the love and support I felt with all the speculation,” he said.