WORLD heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis will not allow the weight of expectation to get to her as she targets European glory.

The 24-year-old will step up her preparations for this month’s European Championships at the Aviva Grand Prix meeting in Gateshead this weekend as a red-hot favourite to claim gold in Barcelona.

Ennis, who will captain the Great Britain team in Catalonia, will go into the event having added the World indoor pentathlon title to the heptathlon triumph she secured outdoors in Berlin last year.

However, while she has inherited the status of the woman to be shot at - for so long the property of Sweden’s Carolina Kluft - she insists all the pressure will come from within.

Ennis said: “Everyone feels a little bit of pressure, but it is more the buzz.

“I enjoy the position I am in because it’s great to be at the top of your game and healthy and performing well and just making the most of it, and not getting too bogged down with people talking about pressure and expectation, just knowing that I have trained hard through the winter and knowing I am in good shape and if I do what I am capable of doing, it will all come together right.

“I probably feel pressure from myself more than anyone else because I set myself goals in training and in competition, and I do beat myself up a bit if things don’t go to plan.

“It’s probably more pressure from myself than anything else.”

“I wouldn’t say I have no fear. I am definitely nervous and you never know what to expect at a championships.

“I am going in there thinking everyone is going to be in great shape.”