The 400m star finished second in his semi-final on Tuesday night.

Matt Hudson-Smith remains on course for gold at Birmingham 2026, yet on this evidence glory on his home track is far from guaranteed.

The Wolverhampton star booked his place in Wednesday night’s men’s European Championship 400 metres final at the Alexander Stadium with few major alarms.

But neither did he particularly lay down a marker to his rivals, having to settle for second place in his semi-final after being overhauled by Jonas Phijffers down the home straight.

Hudson-Smith’s time of 44.78 seconds was only the fourth quickest across the semi-finals, though two of those athletes ahead of him, including Phijffers, set new personal bests to better him.

It could well be Hudson-Smith, eager to avoid repeating the mistake of four years ago when he was guilty of setting off too quickly in the Commonwealth Games final, was merely conserving energy.

Or it could be the grimace which spread across his face during the closing metres here was the sign of something deeper. Only on Wednesday night will we know for sure.

Hudson-Smith later sought to allay any concerns, claiming he had simply made a mistake.

“I misjudged it a little bit. I thought I was clear,” he said.

“I was looking at the screen, and I saw the guy try and surge, but he ran a PB so he's messed up with the final ahead. I kind of did the job. I felt the noise of the fans the whole way round.”

To describe Hudson-Smith as a poster boy for these championships would be under-selling it. Organisers have even re-named a stand after him and his emergence just before 9pm for his semi-final was greeted by a huge roar.

There was more noise when the gun went off and Hudson-Smith, who is hunting a third individual European title, appeared to be propelled along the back straight by it.

The 31-year-old had a lead of several metres heading into the home straight but just when the crowd expected him to pull clear and cruise home, he was reeled in by Phijffers.

While Hudson-Smith will go for gold on Wednesday night, Romell Glave earned Britain’s second gold medal of the week in the men’s 100m.

The 26-year-old led home a British 1-2 ahead of Jeremiah Azu after the favourite, former Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs, pulled up halfway through the race.