Watkins won a silver medal at the World Championships in 2009

Anna Watkins believes she can win her first global gold medal in the World Cup series, which starts on Friday.

Watkins will compete in the double and quadruple sculls in Slovenia, in the first of three events in the series.

"After winning a silver medal [in Poznan in 2009], it leaves only one place for me to go," the 27-year-old from Longsdon told BBC Radio Stoke.

"I think the crew that I'm in now is a lot quicker, so I'm hoping that will be played out in the results."

Watkins finished third in the 2007 World Championships in Munich and followed that with a silver medal two years later.

She also won Olympic bronze alongside Elise Laverick in the double sculls in Beijing in 2008.

Watkins will partner Katherine Grainger in the double sculls in Bled, while Beth Rodford and Annabel Vernon will join the pair in the quadruple sculls, and Watkins is looking forward to racing at an unfamiliar venue.

"There hasn't been an international rowing event there for about 20 years, so it's a new location for pretty much everyone on the team," she added. "I'm really excited about it."

The other two events in the World Cup series take place in Munich in June and Lucerne in July.

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