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UK Sport chief executive John Steele insists Great Britain remain on track for their most successful Olympics in modern times at London 2012.

Prior to the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the target for London 2012 was a fourth-place finish in the medals table, but having achieved that ahead of schedule in the Far East, expectations have been raised.

Great Britain captured 47 medals in Beijing, 19 of which were gold, and while the target for London remains fourth in terms of medals, any less than 47 would represent somewhat of a failure.

That task has been made that much harder with a £50m shortfall in Olympic funding, prompting UK Sport to cut free the dead weight and reduce the budgets of eight sports, supposedly with little or no chance of a London medal.

But having seen gymnast Beth Tweddle and triathlete Alistair Brownlee claim world gold in their respective sports in 2009, as well as better than expected performances at the World Athletics Championships and World Swimming Championships, Steele believes significant strides have been made.

"The road to London 2012 is one we are taking one step at a time," said Steele. "This year our coaches and our performance directors have quietly been going about their business, laying the foundations.

"We have had a very good season and we have some sports which are stepping up now and starting to achieve.

"Without wishing to pull out too many examples we've got the likes of Beth Tweddle who did fantastically to win gold this year.

"And there was a triathlete world gold with Alistair Brownlee. The pleasing thing is that these were firsts for us within these sports and achievements like that are the only way we will achieve our goals in London.

"With people doing things they haven't done before, breaking new ground and raising the bar."

"As a nation we have never been better placed to capitalise: with the talent, ambition and drive of athletes and coaches complemented by the fantastic resources, experience and expertise at our disposal."

While both UK Sport and the British Olympic Association have outlined their desire to send as strong a team as possible to the London, the BOA has warned the proposed 550-strong squad may have to be reduced because of costs.

BOA chief executive Andy Hunt warned another £4m of the £8m needed to send a team of 550 would have to be raised to avoid the team being trimmed down to a more manageable 350.

But Steele implored the BOA to give as many athletes as possible the chance to compete on home soil.

"From my perspective a home Games is once in a lifetime," said Steele.

"I would like to see as big a team as possible but that team has to be quality, the Olympics and Paralympics is not somewhere you go along just to have a go.

"Now is our time: we can build lasting foundations that will secure not only medals at the Games but a high performance system that is truly world leading. But we can only do this if we all work together as a single cohesive unit."

The medal haul of 47 in 2008 in the second biggest by Great Britain at a summer Olympics, with the 146 won at London 1908 the biggest.

Eurosport