For Andy Murray, the desire to win his home grand slam title and double his tally will doubtless be motivation enough when he steps out on Centre Court again next week.

Having won his first at the US Open last September, some of the pressure will be off, although he would probably be wise to steer clear of most media outlets who think he simply has to turn up at SW19 to claim victory.

Certainly, having gone so close to winning the title in 2012, there is a feeling that his near-miss will provide him with the necessary inspiration to summon up an even greater effort this time round.

That is the belief of John McEnroe, the three-time champion, who knows more than most what losing a tight Wimbledon final feels like. The American lost out to Bjorn Borg in 1980 in a five-set final that is still a favourite of the TV companies whenever the opportunity arises.

McEnroe rebounded the following year to beat the Swede in four sets to win the title for the first time and feels Murray could do the same this time round.

"It helped me down the road, because I realised that you have to find another gear that you don't even know you have, said McEnroe, who will be commentating for the BBC again at this year's Championships. "This is the type of thing that Murray, if he's going to win a handful of majors and not [just] one, he's got to learn.

"Can he? Absolutely. He's already had some of those experiences including last year's final where he played well and had a great opportunity to get a two-sets lead. I was sort of the same way. I won the first set and had a great opportunity to win the second and didn't and all of a sudden it became this great uphill battle. It taught me something. It helped me down the road, because I realised that you have to find another gear that you don't even know you have. It definitely made me want it more, no doubt about it."

Having skipped the French Open to allow a disc problem in his lower back to improve, Murray was impressive as he won the Aegon Championships at London's Queen's Club for the third time last Sunday.

Seeded No.2 at Wimbledon, he will be keeping a close eye on which half of the draw Rafa Nadal, the No.5 seed and two-time former winner, lands in. He has the potential to be a fly in the ointment and McEnroe says Murray must use every slight edge that he might have to his advantage. To that end, he believes that having supporters on his side from the outset could be key to his chances.

"When the crowd started to really get behind Murray at the Olympics, that made a big difference," the American said. "In a way it sort of bothered and annoyed Federer because he never experienced that, as far as I know, that people were actually against him.

"That benefitted Murray. At first he wasn't doing a whole lot. But eventually he pumped his fist and jumped around a bit. Personally, that was great to see. You win an Olympic gold medal, you want people to jump for joy. And I do think it helped him to win the US Open."

Before his Olympic victory and US Open win, Murray had been guilty, at times, of allowing his emotions to get the better of him, of being overly negative on court. McEnroe, who was one of the few who could feed off negative emotions, said the Scot has learned to turn his emotions into something positive.

"It's one thing if you turn negative emotion into better playing. It's another if you express negativity and your level of play drops. It was pretty clear that was happening with him," he said. "His first step was the right one, to try to get away from that, not being so negative. That has helped him. He does probably, I suspect, need a way to express himself and get some of this stuff out. If he could do it and be more positive about it, that would be incredible."

The 53-year-old identified the usual suspects as Murray's biggest rivals for the title but added that the fact he had to miss the French Open could prove to be a blessing in disguise.

"Clay is his most difficult surface to succeed on and I think it starts to wear on people, including him, if it's not happening. It's hard to let go of that. I made a calculated choice a handful of times not to play because I wanted to get myself ready for Wimbledon. That's exactly what he's doing. Could he have played if he had to? Maybe he could have, I'm not really sure. I'm not privy enough to what's going on. But the odds are by far the smallest that he's going to win in Paris so it makes sense to me, particularly if there is an issue, to try to regroup and come on strong at Wimbledon and the US Open."

John McEnroe commentates at Wimbledon for BBC TV and presents the 6-love-6 tennis phone-in on Radio 5 live – full coverage of the Championship on BBC TV, radio and online.