Nick Buckfield believes he has the winning of a major medal inside him.

The Crawley pole-vaulter, 28, will begin his bid for glory at the European Indoor Athletics Championships tomorrow but declined to predict his first major top three will be in Vienna.

He said: "I know inside me I am capable of winning a medal but I have no expectation of doing it in Vienna, I'll just do my best and see where that takes me.

"I am fully fit and might be rated No.2 in Europe this year with the 5.81m I vaulted in Hamburg this month, but there's a lot of others coming into form. I'd be happy to reach the final."

Buckfield is in the best form of his career after a series of injuries and believes his faith will be a major part of whatever he achieves in Austria.

The born-again Christian said: "My faith did drift a little when I started having injury problems. I asked God why am I going through all this. But it was God's way of saying it isn't your time yet.

"The support of my wife Elizabeth, friends and coaches have also been a big help."