PLYMOUTH'S Mike Wilsmore will be 'going for broke' in a bid to gain a last-gasp qualification for the World Indoor Athletic Championships in Turkey next month.

The city middle-distance specialist reckons he has nothing to lose and everything to gain by pulling out the stops in the 1,500m at this weekend's UK Championships and World Trials at Sheffield's English Institute of Sport (EIS).

It is a big ask for the fast-improving Wilsmore as the Plymouth University student and Tamar Trotter must shave almost five seconds off his personal best over the blue-riband distance to qualify for Istanbul on March 9-11.

Wilsmore needs to match the qualifying time of 3mins 42secs and also achieve a top-two finish in order to meet the GB yardstick for the championships.

The fact the Bristol and West AC runner is in with a shout at all, following a frustrating 2011 where he was sidelined with an ankle injury, is no mean achievement.

But Wilsmore feels he has the performance within him and does not intend to let the chance go by without one big push back in South Yorkshire, where he ran successfully and impressively last weekend.

Wilsmore returned from Sheffield with a bronze medal in the 1,500m, competing in the McCain City Challenge, where he recorded a time of 3.47.36, just short of his personal best.

The 26-year-old's best came on January 8 this year, when he ran and came third in a high-class field in the British Milers' Club Open, again at Sheffield, clocking 3.47.20.

Wilsmore described his latest bronze medal as frustrating, believing that with a little more concentration in the middle part of the race he could have overhauled runner-up Anthony Whiteman and put pressure on race winner Daniel Mooney (3.45.78).

"I felt I could have run quicker, really, but it was quite tactical, so the time was down on what I'd hoped for," Wilsmore said.

"Both Daniel and Anthony are very, very good athletes and I felt very pleased to have run them so close.

"But after the race I realised that if I hadn't let myself get involved in tactics midway and really gone for it, I honestly feel I could have got silver.

"I finished strongly and knew I had more to give.

"This weekend, I'm going to be running flat out – the heats are my final. I'm not leaving anything to chance.

"If I'm successful and reach the final, I'll be up against a lot of very, very good 1,500m runners. Hopefully, the competition will inspire me.

"I'm not expected to make the time or the top two, so I've got everything to gain and nothing to lose," added Wilsmore, who won the South of England Championships over 1,500m in north London in January.