Kirsty Gilmour and Alex Dunn both hope to be in amongst Commonwealth Games badminton medals

Kirsty Gilmour (front, right) and Alex Dunn (back, middle) are both targeting medals at the Commonwealth Games

Bothwell ace Kirsty, who will play in the women’s singles again four years after her silver at the Glasgow 2014 Games, said: “I think to aim for anything less than a medal would be unreasonable as that’s the reason we’re all here.

“I’m in the top four seeding which is exactly where I wanted to be to make sure I’m in the best position I could possibly be heading into the competition.

“However, I think this year will be tougher than Glasgow for a few different reasons.

“First of all, I don’t have the home crowd support behind me, and also there’s another player in the singles who wasn’t playing in 2014.

“Realistically, there are about five of us vying for the top three medal positions which will certainly make things tougher.”

And Motherwell’s Alex, who will partner Adam Hall in the men’s doubles, added: “This is both mine and Adam’s first Games so we’re really excited to just get on the courts and perform our best.

“Progressing to the final stages is our goal, and walking away with a medal would be a big win for us.”