Hannah England said she felt “really good” as she eased into to today’s final of the women’s 1500 metres at the magnificent, but almost empty, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, writes STUART WEIR.

In a race where the top four from 11 starters qualified for the final, England sat in the pack for the first three laps.

At the bell, five runners had broken clear and England never looked in trouble as she made sure of fourth place behind Olympic champion, Nancy Lan’gat, in a time of 4mins 13.91secs.

It was a good race for the UK with Helen Clitheroe (England), Steph Twell (Scotland) and Ciara Mageean (Northern Ireland) also making the final, which is at 2.10pm today.

Afterwards, England joked about her heat in the European Championship when she only qualified as the last of four fastest losers.

“It was a bit boring compared to Barcelona – but a lot more fun,” she said.

“I felt comfortable and involved in the race all the way. I felt really good. The approach for the final will be to sit in there and try to match the other girls and then outsprint them.

“My preparations have been very good. Nothing has gone majorly wrong. The Welsh team arrived with a bug, and I was just about the only England person to catch it”.

England is thoroughly enjoying the whole Commonwealth Games environment.

“The village is fun,” she said. “There are ten of us sharing a flat and it is great to hear about all the different events and how everyone is doing. You feel involved in the whole team.”

England’s Mark Lewis-Francis had to settle for second spot in the 100 metres, which was won by Jamaica’s Lerone Clarke.

Clarke took advantage of the absence of countryman Usain Bolt to race away from the field.