MATTHEW Langridge has urged Great Britain’s men’s eight to show their true strength for the first time this season when they race again this weekend.

He believes the crew is back to full strength for a World Cup regatta in Poland following the return of double Olympic champion Pete Reed.

The former Northwich Rowing Club member, a two-time Olympic medallist, is healthy again too after recovering from illness.

“We want to have two good, hard races and deliver in competition what we’ve been doing in training,” he said.

“I don’t feel we’ve achieved that yet [this year].

“That’s the main thing for us in Poznan, and then we’ll have a better idea of where we are and what we still need to work on.”

Four other countries plan to race at the final international event ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio.

Germany, who won gold in London four years ago, are among them.

They have beaten Langridge and company twice already in 2016, including in the European Championships final back in May.

Belarus, New Zealand and hosts Poland complete a line-up that will race a preliminary later today, Friday, to decide the lane order for Sunday’s final.

“We were hit by illness [at the World Cup] in Lucerne,” said Langridge, who was selected last week for a 12-strong men’s sweep squad in Brazil, where he will compete at the Olympic Games for a fourth time.

“Pete wasn’t there, and he makes this boat go faster.

“Al [Sinclair] did a great job as a sub, but the original crew is our fastest line-up – that’s the one you want out there.

“We’ve looked at things since then, and have taken the chance to mix things up.

“Three weeks isn’t a lot of time to experiment, but Germany are a good opponent and we want to race well against them.”

Great Britain took bronze at the European Championships, then finished fourth in Switzerland last time out.

Langridge and Reed will be joined in the boat by Matt Gotrel, Scott Durant, Will Satch, Tom Ransley, Paul Bennett, Andrew T Hodge and cox Phelan Hill.

They are due on the water in Poznan at 12.10pm today.