Murray (l) and Twell in the women's 5000m Commonwealth Games final

Freya Murray and Stephanie Twell will spearhead the home challenge at the Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country in the Scottish capital on 8 January.

No European competitor has ever made the medallists' podium in the six previous stagings of the women's event.

Twell, who won a Commonwealth bronze medal, has a fourth place in Edinburgh to her name, as has England's European champion Hayley Yelling-Higham.

Murray aims to build on a second place at October's Bupa Great South Run.

Murray, who has had the best season of her career, was fifth in the 10,000m at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, while Twell's third place in India came in the 1500m.

Twell is also a three-time European junior cross-country gold-medal winner.

Looking ahead to the BBC televised event, Peter Riley, the meeting's elite athletes' coordinator, said: "They'll certainly have the crowd behind them and that can be a very important factor in any cross-country race.

"Both have had outstanding seasons, in my opinion the best of their careers, and that should boost their confidence against some of the world's best opponents.

"Beating any African opponent in the Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country is never going to be easy, as past results show. Only Australia's former world champion, Benita Willis, has managed that, as runner-up in the inaugural race.

"It will be no different next month as, I can assure you, Ethiopian and Kenyan runners are again eager to compete, having dominated the race since its inception.

"However, Freya and Steph usually bring out the best in each other whenever they meet, so there will be great interest in how they fare in this latest head-to-head, given that it will be in front of their home fans."

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