DALE Clutterbuck will be following in the same footsteps as his heroes when he runs the Emsley Carr Mile at the Anniversary Games in London’s Olympic stadium tomorrow.

The 23-year-old from Canvey has watched tapes of middle-distance legends Seb Coe and Steve Cram racing over the legendary mile distance.

And his current coach Matt Yates wasn’t too shabby over the four laps of the track either having run 3m 52.75s.

Clutterbuck wants to eventually be seen alongside those greats and with every race is getting nearer to doing that.

He ran inside 3m 40s for the 1,500m for the first time in Madrid last weekend and still believes he has a chance of making this year’s World Championships if he can run fast enough in the Olympic Stadium tomorrow.

But the bigger picture is making Olympic Games and major championships on a regular basis as well as competing at Diamond League meetings as a matter of routine.

“I’m going to be racing the best in the world tomorrow,” said Clutterbuck who will be up against the likes of two-time world 1,500m champion Asbel Kiprop.

“It will be a huge experience for me to be able to measure myself up against runners like that.

“I remember as a teenager getting videos of Steve Cram and Seb Coe running and thinking ‘that’s what I want to do’. I’m getting closer to that level all the time.”

Clutterbuck does have a chance of making the British team for the World Championships in Beijing next month.

If he can go through 1,500m in the qualifying time of 3m 36.20s he should win the third spot on the Great Britain team having won a bronze medal at the British Championships.

“I think you will see a race within a race tomorrow,” Clutterbuck said. “There will be the race to win and then the race between the Brits. There’s one spot available and if one of us can go through the 1,500m point inside the qualifying time then we could win selection.

“It does make it difficult. Because you want to get to the 1,500m point with a good time and ahead of the others, but at the same time you don’t want to lose to them in the actual race which is over a mile.”

Clutterbuck revealed he found out he would be involved in his first Diamond League race just four hours before he set his new 1,500m PB in Madrid last weekend.

“I got a text from Matt (Yates) saying I was in and my first thought was ‘s***, I better not run badly here’,” he laughed. “I was standing on the start line, in this oppressive heat, breathing through a straw almost, thinking ‘don’t run badly!’”

As it turned out he didn’t run badly, but he still thinks he has a lot more in the tank.

“I ran 3m 38s but it wasn’t perfect. I got cut up a lot and had to chop my stride back,” he said. “It has given me confidence though because I know I can go even faster.

“I know I can go into tomorrow’s race and mix it up and know that I can go to major championships and be competitive.”