CITY of York AC’s Richard Buck is adamant he will run at next month’s European Championships despite fulfilling only half of the selection criteria at the Aviva UK Indoor Trials and Championships.

The 24-year-old had to settle for silver in the 400 metres final in Sheffield in a time of 47.30 seconds as Nigel Levine ran a personal best to take gold.

Silver was enough for Buck to tick one of the European selection boxes but with his best time, 47.13 seconds in the semi-finals, outside the qualifying standard the job is only half done.

Buck will make a swift return to the track at this weekend’s Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham and insists he is not worried about not achieving a time of 46.70 seconds.

“I was disappointed with the 400m final,” said Buck. “It was a really hard race, I got cut up and then I had to cut someone else up, so it was pretty typical of an indoor race.

“I’m disappointed because I left something in the tank. I wasn’t able to run my own race and fair play to the other guys for not letting me do that but it is annoying.

“They are always like that but I know I will get the time for the European indoors in Paris, probably in Birmingham. I am not worried about that at all.

“I have been training really well and that is why I am not worried. If I am doing it on the training track then I can do it in competitions.”

Added Buck: “It is just about making that transition but I am not worried about doing that at the moment because I feel good and I feel confident.”

Buck will need to take exactly three tenths of a second off his seasons best of 47 seconds dead, ran in Moscow earlier this month, to satisfy UKA head coach Charles van Commenee.

However, Buck – who failed to run at both the European Championships and Commonwealth Games last year – admitted a trip to Paris is only a small part of the 2011 picture.

“I had a pretty disappointing campaign last year so I am looking to get back into it this time round,” he added.

“I have been training in South Africa and everything is going really well.

“My main focus is on the outdoor season and not the indoor one and making sure I run at the World Championships in particular – that is the main priority at the moment.”

• Aviva has been paving the way for British athletes since 1999.

To find out more about Aviva’s athletics sponsorship, go to aviva.co.uk/athletics