OWEN SMITH is in perfect shape to stake his claim for a place at the European Championships with Great Britain.

The Flintshire raised 400m runner produced a season best time of 46.63 seconds when finishing second to Indoor World Championships relay team mate Grant Plenderleith at Sunday's Loughborough International.

That time of 46.63 was his second best ever as he finished just 0.03 seconds behind Scotland's Plenderleith, before Smith ran a 46.9 split in the third leg of the 4x400m invitational relay.

A delayed start by Smith's team mate in the fourth leg meant a slower time was recorded with suggestions that the Welshman could have ran anywhere between 0.3 and 0.5 seconds quicker.

Smith will now head to the International Flanders Outdoor Meeting on Saturday to further stake his claim for a place in the GB 4x400m relay team for August's European Championships in Berlin.

The Oordegem track is the venue where Smith posted his personal best time of 46.23, so confidence is high heading into the weekend, before he jets off to Geneva on June 9.