JARED Deacon will tonight attempt to reach the final of the men's 400m - determined not to repeat the "stupid" mistake that almost left his Commonwealth Games dream in tatters.

Deacon, from South Shields, finished third in his second round heat yesterday evening in a time of 46.66secs.

The 26-year-old was just 0.08secs ahead of Botswana's California Molefe, who came fifth and missed out on a place in the semis.

Deacon said: "I was stupid at the end because I looked across one way to see where the other athletes were.

"But the guy in the other direction came up quickly in the last 30m, and so I had to dip at the finishing line to make sure of it.

"It's always hard to run two heats in one day, but I felt a lot better in the second round than I did in my first run at lunchtime.

"Saying that, though, I'll have to improve a hell of a lot to get in the final - but so will all the athletes.

"I'll have to run about 45.6secs to get there, and you need to run a quick time to make sure you get a good lane in the final.

"You get a real buzz from having so many fans cheering you all the way round.

"But while I'm hopeful of getting into the individual final, I've got more chance of getting a medal in the relay."

l Elsewhere in the one-lap qualifying, World 400m indoor champion Daniel Caines spearheaded a trio of England qualifiers for tomorrow's semi-finals.

Caines finished a comfortable second in his heat in 46.11secs to join Jared Deacon, third in his race in 46.66, and Sean Baldock, who was also third in 46.26 in a race won by world champion Avard Moncur of the Bahamas.

Caines said: ''Obviously, it's going to drain you but it's job done. It was about qualifying.''

Newly-crowned AAAs champion Tim Benjamin kept the flag flying for Wales - missing defending champion Iwan Thomas and former world indoor winner Jamie Baulch through injury - with fourth spot in Caines' heat (46.54).

And Liverpool-based national record holder Paul McKee ensured Northern Ireland will have a representative in tomorrow's semi-final with fourth spot behind Baldock in 46.47.

Heat 2: 1 Shane Niemi (Can) 46.49 Q, 2 Sanjay Ayre (Jam) 46.49 Q, 3 Jared Deacon (Eng) 46.66 Q, 4 Chris Brown (Bah) 46.71 Q, 5 Calfornia Molefe (Bot) 46.74, 6 Talkmore Nyongani (Zim) 47.14, 7 Quincy Anthony (Ant) 47.61, 8 Simon Pierre (Tri) Did Not Finish.