George Mills would have been 'disappointed' with anything less than silver at European Indoor Championships

The 25-year-old former St Aidan's School pupil ran a time of 7:49.41 in the 3000m final in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, finishing as runner-up to Norwegian sensation Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

That second-placed finish follows on from him winning gold at the British Indoor Championships last month, just three weeks after he set a new British indoor record on his first-ever competitive outing at 3000m, when he ran 7:27.92 at the Meeting de l’Eure in France.

And although Mills continues to do the business at this new distance, he insists that he is capable of more.

"Anything less now would have been really disappointing," the ex-Harrogate Harrier said.

"I guess I did the minimum of what I could. I’m obviously happy to come away with a silver, but I need to work more for summer.

Mills led the field for a period of time before being overtaken by Ingebrigtsen, and although the Norwegian extended the gap between the two over the course of the final lap, Mills hung in there and finished a comfortable second in the end.

On his battle with the Scandinavian, who also beat him into second place in last year's European 5000m final in Rome, Mills added: “Four hundred [metres] out, I thought it was a bit early to try to defend.

"I thought, ‘okay, I’ll sit on and see if I can attack on the home straight’.

“Unfortunately he pulled away, but I think I saw on the clock it was only a one-second gap and I think it was 1.2 in Rome, so I’m getting closer.”