Martyn Rooney has suggested that five athletes switching their allegiances to Great Britain should be seen as a positive decision.

The move to allow the likes of sprinter Zharnel Hughes and hurdler Cindy Ofili to race for Team GB has attracted plenty of criticism from domestic athletes, but 400m runner Rooney believes that his teammates should be supporting the quintet.

The 28-year-old is quoted by The Herald as saying: "It's going to help my event. Michael Bingham and Rabah Yousif have made it better.

"You have to be positive about it. As long as they contribute to British sport in some way, that's the most important thing. We should support them no matter what their accent is.

"Look at the success of Mo Farah, Shara Proctor and Tiffany Porter who have won medals for us. We're very lucky to have them come to compete for us."

Each of the five athletes are eligible for this summer's World Athletics Championships in Beijing.