By Neil Silver, PA Sport

Nathan Morgan has admitted he will probably have to jump through the pain barrier if he is to capture a medal in next month's European Championships.

The 24-year-old Birchfield Harrier grabbed long jump gold in Manchester on tuesday, putting four years of injury hell to one side as he finally fulfilled the promise which brought him a world junior bronze six years ago.

However, the victory came with a fitness concern. Morgan needed a pain-killing injection in his heel just to compete in the final and, when he completed the winning 8.02metres jump, he was unable to feel his foot hit the ground.

While the reaction did not prevent him fighting off Botswana's Gable Garenamotse, he knows it will probably prevent him reaching the top three in Munich.

"The standard is higher, so if the heel is still troubling me then I will just have to ignore the pain," he said.

"I got a little tear during the Commonwealth trials and last night was the first time I have jumped off my full run since.

"It was hurting during qualifying, so I had the injection but then couldn't feel my foot touch the ground when I was running in.

"I nearly fell flat on my face at one stage but I got away with it in the end.

"I won't be able to do that in the Europeans though. I need to feel the floor because I will have to jump further."

Morgan claimed he had never doubted his ability to return, even though he was told four years ago that he would never jump again because of a bulging disc in his back.

At the time, he was so heartbroken he refused to even watch the sport on TV and even now the hurt is still enough for him to reject the chance to discuss the merits of England's team performance in this Games, compared to those in Kuala Lumpur four years ago when Morgan had just been given the bad news.

"I was pretty down but then I thought 'this is one guy's opinion', so I went to see someone else who said with the right treatment it shouldn't be a problem to compete again.

"This has been a long time coming but it's pretty sweet."

A confident, if shy character, Morgan declared that his basic speed could have been enough to earn him a place in the English relay squad for the Games.

That did not materialise, so instead he packed his bags and left the athletes' village today in anticipation of two days' rest before starting his preparations for Munich.

But Morgan has predicted that he can lead Britain into a new glorious era of long jumping.

His biggest rival, Chris Tomlinson, broke Lynn Davies' 34-year-old British record three months ago, although he could only manage sixth on Tuesday night.

At 19, Mark Awanah has also put in some impressive performances this season and Morgan is expecting big things of the youngster, even though three successive no-jumps in qualifying saw him eliminated at the opening stage.

"We can push each other on, although I have a few more years' experience than them and to me they will always be underdogs," he said.

"Chris got the British record but I got the gold medal and I know which I prefer.

"I am not one for looking at how far I have jumped, I want to be a championship performer. They are the athletes people remember.

"Even now I am not jumping to my full capabilities. I had to ease off the weights last year just to get my technique right, so I am not as strong as I could be.

"But with a better winter behind me, I'll be ready to explode next year. I believe I can improve by another 40cms and I'll also have the British record by the end of the season."