Rutherford admits he still has a long way to go

Greg Rutherford admitted he was still a work in progress after failing to make the long jump final at the World Indoor Championships in Doha.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Greg Rutherford knows he can still impove after his disappointing performance in Doha (Getty Images)

Rutherford, who took his technique back to the drawing board after signing up with coach Dan Pfaff, headed to Qatar off the back of claiming the UK indoor title from GB rival Chris Tomlinson in February.

But things took a turn for the worse in the Aspire Dome where the 23-year-old fouled on his final jump to leave him with a best leap of 7.80m to miss out on the medal showdown.

But Rutherford, who claimed European silver in 2006, insists he's prepared to play the waiting game in pursuit of further international honours.

"At the moment it is still a long-term thing with me, I'm doing some great work with Dan but I didn't get the jumps down," said Rutherford.

"I knew this was going to be a learning curve because I have changed a few things in training and we are waiting for it to come together.

"I knew I had quite a few technical problems with my jump so for the sake of the long term me and Dan have been working together on those rather than focusing on a particular competition.

"He is a brilliant person to work with because he has so much experience and he is a great coach.

"I have never felt more comfortable talking to a coach during a competition than I did in Doha and I think that is a good sign for the future."

Rutherford opened his Middle East campaign with a well below par leap of 7.35m before recovering to post a solid marker of 7.80m.

But after overcooking it on his third and final attempt and crossing the board, the British record holder admitted he was always swimming against the tide.

"The first jump I did was so far off, it was terrible, and I think that rocked me back on my heels a little bit," added Rutherford.

"After that I just wanted to get a respectable distance down and I did that with my second jump.

"On the third attempt I just had to go for broke and in the end I was given a red flag.

"It isn't a great showing in terms of results but there were bits and pieces that came together for me out there and I am starting to feel the benefit of the work I have been doing.

"Hopefully by the time the European Championships come round I will be in even better shape and I can keep on improving."