THERE is a definite air of Robert the Bruce's fabled tenacious spider about Daniel Purvis.

After two years on the second step of the podium at the British Gymnastics Championships, the Scot regained his all-around title in impressive fashion a fortnight ago.

It was a performance that has earned him a place in the six-strong British men's team, alongside Max Whitlock, Kristian Thomas, Courtney Tulloch, Sam Oldham and Louis Smith, for the 2015 European Championships in Montpellier which get under way on Wednesday. The women's quartet of Claudia Fragapane, Becky Downie, Amy Tinkler and Ellie Downie will also compete.

The event marks a crucial first step on the road to the World Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow this autumn, a key qualifier for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Purvis, however, travels to France as the lone Scot in the team. Despite a strong showing by Frank Baines to take all-around silver at the British Championships, the 19-year-old missed out on a spot. Another notable absentee is Daniel Keatings who, after a below-par routine on the pommel horse at the same event, played no further part in the competition.

In contrast, Purvis, now a four-time British senior all-around champion, added individual apparatus gold on floor and rings alongside silver on the parallel bars to his medal haul.

"It was nice to be able to do that, especially now I'm getting older," he says. "The last few years it has been a big battle with Max [Whitlock] and some of the juniors coming up. I'm happy with how things went. It has put me in a good mindset looking ahead to the Europeans."

The 24-year-old will primarily be aiming to make his mark in the individual all-around competition in Montpellier. "To push into the top five, even an outside chance of a medal, that would ultimately be my dream," he says. "I would like to make the apparatus finals for floor and parallel bars. I have never made a European p-bars final so it would be great to do that."

Purvis has enjoyed an incredible journey, one which has taken him from the podium at London 2012 - where Britain claimed a historic Olympic team bronze - to his golden moment on parallel bars during the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last summer. He has not only matured as a performer, but has come out of his shell and grown better accustomed to the glare of the media spotlight. Lacking the brash showmanship of some of his peers, he instead exudes a quiet confidence reminiscent of another great Scottish sportsman: Sir Chris Hoy. The pair are similarly self- effacing, humble in their achievements and far quicker to applaud the attributes of team-mates - and even rivals - than be seen to sing their own praises. Although make such a comparison to Purvis and he would undoubtedly blush to the roots of his red hair.

He may still be in his early twenties but Purvis, who splits his time between Southport YMCA and British Gymnastics HQ in Lilleshall, feels something of an elder statesman with a raft of new names knocking on the door. "Everyone is trying to make the team and it is so tough now," he says. "The last [Olympic] cycle was hard but with all the juniors coming up it's even harder this time."

British Gymnastics selectors find themselves in the enviable position of having a squad of considerable strength and depth to draw on as they look ahead to the World Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow in October and then the Olympics in Rio.

In addition to Purvis, Whitlock, Oldham, Thomas and Smith - all part of that successful London 2012 team - it would be foolish to rule out Keatings, a two-time European gold medallist and reigning Commonwealth Games champion on pommel horse. Then there is five-time European junior champion Nile Wilson, still recovering from wrist surgery last autumn, who took high bar gold at Glasgow 2014 and was a bronze medallist in the all-around competition, as well as Baines who has shown a return to the form which earned him the 2012 European junior all-around title.

Throw into the mix names such as Tulloch, another former European junior gold medallist and a member of the senior men's team at last year's World Championships, as well as youngsters such as Dominick Cunningham and Brinn Bevan, and it is teeing up an almighty battle when it comes to deciding places.

"The team could be massive but it is a lot of pressure on everyone individually," admits Purvis. "Everyone is working so hard. In competitions I have a lot of experience of concentrating on myself and not focusing on what everyone else is doing but in training, if you start thinking about it too much, it can get on top of you and be quite stressful.

"I aim to get through every session healthy because that way I have a fighting chance. As soon as you pick up an injury, that is going to set you back. It's about doing as much as you can in the gym but also not doing anything silly which could potentially set you back weeks and months."

The 2015 World Gymnastics Championships will take place at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow from October 23 until November 1. For tickets, visit 2015worldgymnastics.com