Olympic heptathlon bronze medallist Kelly Sotherton is relishing a high- profile appearance in Birmingham, aiming to set down a marker for her Commonwealth Games campaign.

The Birchfield Harrier plans to warm up for her Commonwealth title challenge in Melbourne with an outing at the Norwich Union Grand Prix at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham on February 18.

"It's a massive year for me next year," said Sotherton. "The Commonwealths offer me a real chance of a major championship gold medal and I can't wait to get back in competitive action again.

" There are not many chances to compete before the Games in March and the Norwich Union Grand Prix is one of the events I will hope to be at. Apart from anything else, it is a home-town appearance for me in front of a capacity crowd, so it should be the perfect send off before we all head off to Australia."

Tickets for the NIA meeting went on sale yesterday.