BRITISH badminton ace Chris Adcock says he’s hoping to give the home crowds something to shout about at this week’s YONEX All England Open.

The 28-year-old is seeded seventh in Birmingham, alongside mixed doubles partner and wife Gabby, with the pair set to play their first match on Wednesday.

The duo’s first-round match sees them take on in-form Malaysian pairing Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai, who won at the YONEX German Open last week, with Adcock just pleased that his partner has recovered from an ankle injury sustained in January.

“This year’s been a very different build-up to what we probably would’ve hoped for with Gabby hurting herself at the very start of the year,” said the Leicestershire shuttler.

“So it’s not been the ideal preparation but I’ve just tried to keep myself fit and healthy and Gabby’s been working her butt off to try and get fit for this tournament.

“I think the All England has been that carrot dangled in front of Gabby to try and get fit so it’s just…for us it’s just a bonus because we really didn’t know whether we were going to be competing here within the last week.

“That decision we still weren’t sure right up until the last minute so it’s just really nice to be here in Birmingham.”

And the Adcock’s, currently ranked eighth in the world, are hoping to go one better than last year’s championship, which saw them narrowly defeated by China’s Kai Lu and Yaqiong Huang in the semi-finals.

“We’ve had a good few years although last year was tough to take,” he added.

“We were one point away from making the final but we’re just going to enjoy it and see what we can get.”

The 2016 Rio de Janeiro bronze medallists have also recently been named in England’s squad for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, taking place in Australia next month.

But despite that event being on the horizon, where the pairing are defending champions, Gabby Adcock says the focus is very much on the YONEX All England.

“It’s huge, ever since I started playing badminton and coming to watch the YONEX All England in juniors I always dreamt of being on the stage and performing here,” said the Leeds-born shuttler.

“It’s always a dream of ours to win this one day.

“Like Chris said, the preparations haven’t been ideal but I’m just really fortunate that I’m back on court competing and who knows, I’m just so excited to be back on court and feeling fresh.”

The world’s best badminton players are in Birmingham for the YONEX All England (14-18 March).

For tickets, TV schedule, results & reaction: allenglandbadminton.com