EAMONN Martin believes Adam Hickey’s run at the European Cross-Country Championships can propel him to the next level in his career.

The 26-year-old was a superb ninth at the Euro Cross in Bulgaria on Sunday and Martin, who has coached Hickey for the past three years, believes it will give him the confidence to win some of the biggest races around.

“It was a good run and long overdue,” said Martin. “Confidence is an amazing thing in sport and you can see what it does to any sportsperson when they find it.

“It’s something that we have been working on. I know what he is capable of and I think perhaps the psychological side of things has been holding Adam back. Not the physiological side because he is a really good runner.

“I really do expect him to move on from this result now with the confidence it will bring.”

Southend AC athlete Hickey is likely to compete again for Great Britain in the Great Edinburgh Cross in a few weeks before re-setting his sights for the big cross-country races in the spring that includes the trials for the World Cross-Country Championships.

And Martin – who knows a thing or two about competing at the sharp end of distance running having won national titles on the track, cross-country and road – wants Hickey to start winning the biggest races on the calendar.

He said: “Adam can go out and win races like the Southend 10k and run decent times but I said to him ‘you don’t have enough hard races’ and we changed things a bit this year to get him in stronger races.

"His training has always been good but he’s needed that extra bit of competition. And this year he ran very well in the Great South Run (where he clocked 48m 58s for his debut over 10 miles), ran well for England at the Burgos cross-country in Spain and has now had a really good run at the European Cross-Country Championships.

"We need to carry that on now and get him in challenging races over the next couple of months.”

One race that is always hard is the English Cross-Country Championships, which Martin won twice during his career, and is this year back at London’s famous Parliament Hill.

But the pair are not sure whether Hickey will be trying to repeat his coach’s feat in February.

“We will have to see nearer the time,” Martin said. “The national is a great race but you have to look at the bigger picture and the UK Intercounties and World trials are just a few weeks later and we will want him to be in the best condition then.

“I expect him to be up there making the team again. He has made the last two Great Britain cross-country teams and the confidence gained from Sunday will put him in good stead.

“He should realise now just how good a runner he is.

“Adam is one of those guys who will look at a start list and say ‘oh, there are some good runners in here’ and not realise he is a very good runner himself. He doesn’t win races that I believe he can win. He is that good.

“But I can remember winning the national cross-country and looking at the names on the trophy and thinking ‘I’ve not done half of what they have done’ but I was 25 and they hadn’t done those things at 25 either.

“I pushed on and did a lot more things and Adam can do the same.

“The next stage is to get a good track season under his belt. He suffers from exercise-induced asthma that seems to get worse in the summer and we hope that’s been sorted out and he can have a real crack at getting his 5,000m time down.

“He will be full of confidence and the key thing for us is to make sure he stays fit and healthy because that’s the only thing that can dent a runner’s confidence.

“I believe he can run well into his thirties, if he wants to, and in many ways, he is three years younger in running terms because he was concentrating on triathlon.

“Obviously his cardiovascular system wasn’t affected but his muscles have taken a while to get back used to running every day.

“But I am confident that is sorted now, so he can look ahead with confidence.”