PAUL DRINKHALL was keen to accentuate the positives despite narrowly missing out on a medal at the European Games in Baku.

Drinkhall suffered a 4-2 defeat to Ukraine’s Lei Kou in his bronze-medal match, having narrowly lost to number one seed Dimitrij Ovtcharov in the semi-finals earlier in the afternoon.

The Loftus table tennis star, who won a gold medal at last year’s Commonwealth Games, won the first set against Kou, but was unable to get back on level terms after losing the next three in a row.

“I think in the first set and last two sets, I played really well, but he was great,” said Drinkhall, who is on track to qualify for next year’s Olympic Games in Rio. “I handed him two sets too easily.

“The last game was great, and hopefully it’s good for British table tennis. The disappointment is on small things. I was 2-1 up in the semi-final and could have been in the final, but I’ll work on those things and hopefully in Rio I’ll push on.

“My game is definitely there when I play my best. Dimitrij struggles with me earlier, and I’ve felt my game has got a lot better over the last couple of years. I’ve won a lot of games that a year ago I would have lost.

“It’s got a lot better and I’ve got a few more months before Rio. Hopefully, I can get there and do some damage.”