Ben Hunt-Davis and Louis Attrill take their place in the British men's eight for the Olympic final on Sunday urging their team-mates to be more efficient in the hunt for gold.

The two men join Andrew Lindsay, Simon Dennis, Luka Grubor, Kieran West, Fred Scarlett, Steve Trapmore and cox Rowley Douglas in the boat which has drawn lane two in the final which begins at 1030 Sydney time (0030 BST).

Arch-rivals Australia, who beat the British team in the heats, are next to them in lane three while world champions, the United States, are in lane five but so far have not shown their best form in Sydney.

"One of the things we need to try to do is be as efficient as possible," said Hunt-Davis. "If you're not putting the blade in where you reach, you're not being efficient."

Attrill believes that the hard work the eight put in this week has helped the team, who are the World Cup holders, look sharper.

After the opening heat setback against Australia on Wednesday, they booked their place in the final in style - setting the fastest time of the day in the repechage.

"We did a little bit of work in improving our start and we seemed to get off a bit sharper," said Attrill.

"But we probably didn't have some of the quicker starting crews in the race with us. We weren't under so much pressure against the real quality crews that can get off quickly."

Hunt-Davis added: "Over the last couple of years, we've done a lot of work on our starts.

"A lot of our work in training has been based on trying to make sure that we get out of the blocks with everybody. If we go out in front, then that's all well and good."

Britain, silver medallists at the 1999 world championships, last claimed an Olympic medal in the men's eight when they struck silver at the 1980 Games in Moscow.

They have won gold twice (1908 and 1912), and Attrill thinks his team-mates are looking good to be among the medals again.

"Throughout the last couple of seasons, we've always looked to improve as a crew throughout the regatta and I think this one should be no different.

"We'll be looking to improve ourselves up until the warm-up before the final on Sunday. We'll probably be doing things in the warm-up on Sunday to try and improve ourselves. We'll never sit back."