JACK Thomas is targeting a top-10 finish on his debut at the Skeleton World Championships this weekend.

The 26-year-old former Horwich RMI sprinter is hoping to put down a marker at the Königssee track in Germany ahead of next year's Winter Olympics.

He is one of three Brits to qualify for the competition, alongside Team GB's number one slider Dominic Parsons and great friend and rival Jerry Rice, who won the Intercontinental Cup this season.

Thomas leap-frogged Rice, courtesy of his lightning-quick start, to make the two-man British team for this season's World Cup series – the sport's top international circuit.

After struggling in the first two races, he came back to score five consecutive top-20 finishes.

But with other team-mates pushing to steal his position at the top table, the Westhoughton-based slider is eager to prove he belongs in the British squad.

"There is absolutely no margin for error at the top level – you make a mistake, you get punished," he said.

"I have been right up there with my starts in the World Cup series, so I have been in the mix, but I am yet to do a perfect run.

"I have made at least one mistake in every run so far, but I am getting more and more experience and more and more track time, which is the key to ironing out those mistakes.

"I raced in the World Cup at Königssee last year and again just a few weeks ago, and I will have another week of training on the track under my belt before the World Championships.

"All of that adds up, so if I can use that experience to cut out the mistakes and put in four perfect runs then I am sure a top-10 place is within my grasp."

Britain is set to take one of it's strongest ever teams to the World Championships, with a maximum complement of three sliders qualifying in both the men's and women's competitions.

And GB Skeleton performance advisor Andi Schmid is in no doubt Thomas deserves his place in the team.

"The World Championships are the showpiece event of the season and I’m delighted that we have qualified six sliders for this year’s competition,” he said, after his team achieved their maximum quota courtesy of having a trio of athletes within the top 30 ranked men and the same number within the top 25 ranked women.

“The World Championships and next month’s final World Cup event in Pyeongchang (South Korea) have always been our primary focus this season and we are confident we can produce some good results in both events.

"Dom has been to three world championships and has been in the top 10 on each occasion, while Jerry and Jack’s performances this season have shown that they deserve their opportunity to pit themselves against the world’s best.

“We have a proud recent history at this event and we have every intention of ensuring that continues.

"We know we face a tough challenge but we want to put down another good marker as we are now less than a year away from the Winter Olympics.”

The skeleton action starts on Friday, when the men will have their first two runs of the competition. The final two runs take place on Sunday.

The 2018 Winter Olympics will take place in Pyeongchang next February.