Marlon Devonish refused to concede that Tyrone Edgar will be first choice for the 100 metres in the Norwich Union GB side in the SPAR European Cup later this month.
Edgar demonstrated his credentials to compete in Annecy after scorching to a personal best of 10.06 seconds in Geneva on Saturday.
But despite clocking just 10.18secs when sixth in Sunday's Golden League meeting in Berlin, Devonish believes he can stake a claim before the side is announced on June 9.
Devonish is confident he can run faster than Edgar in this Friday's Golden League meeting in Oslo.
"That's not too bad for my first 100m of the season," said the 32-year-old.
"I only started with 10.25s last year and you saw how quickly my times came down.
"I didn't run my race properly today so I know there is plenty of room for improvement. It's a case of getting back into the groove and I'm sure I will.
"As I said last week, I believe the fastest man should be given the place. That's what I'm aiming to do."
Michael Rimmer had no hesitation in switching from the 800m 'B' competition to face much stiffer opposition in the main event.
It was virtually an individual time trial for the British champion, who laboured around the track to finish eighth in one minute 47.32s as Abraham Chepkirwok won in a Ugandan record of 1min 44.53secs.
"I can't complain after missing three weeks' training with bronchitis," said the 22-year-old from Liverpool.
"I came here to test myself and I can live with the result."
Michael East is a lot more experienced than his fellow Briton but he met a similar fate in his 1,500m debut when coming 12th in a time of 3:36.48s.
The former Commonwealth champion fell off the pace after two laps as Augustine Chogo of Kenya won a tight finish in 3:31.57s, the fastest time in the world this year.
European 110m hurdles bronze medallist Andy Turner was also never in with a shout, finishing eighth in 13.71s as American David Oliver won in 13.19s.
Joice Maduaka slipped at the start and emerged last from the blocks to finish seventh in the 100m in 11.81s.
Meanwhile, organisers of Kalamata's international meeting have confirmed Dwain Chambers will make his return to 100m racing on Wednesday.
It will be Chambers' first race over the distance for almost two years and he will be chasing the qualifying standard of 10.85s required to earn a place in next month's Olympic trials.
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