Eugene Laverty is eyeing a podium ahead of his World Supersport Championship debut at Donington Park this weekend.

The 250GP rider will race for the factory Yamaha outfit in place of the injured Fabien Foret at both Donington Park and the following Vallelunga round after receiving the all-clear from his Blusens Aprilia team to take up the ride.

Coming after he was forced to give up a World Superbike berth at Paul Bird Motorsport ahead of Brands Hatch, Laverty was thrilled to have been offered such a good chance by a formidable Supersport team.

“After the two years that I have had, it is nice to get an opportunity like this,” he told Crash.net. “Yamaha don't owe me anything, so this is a great chance they have given me. There are other guys they could have offered it to, so I am keen to do them proud and show what I am capable of.”

Laverty has endured a difficult time 250GP as he struggles for pace with dated machinery. As such, he realises this is a golden opportunity to prove his ability to a wider audience at Donington Park.

As for predictions, he is using Karl Harris' fine performance at Brands Hatch as an indicator of where he would like to be at Donington Park, with a podium is primary target.

“I want to be running with the front bunch and challenging for the podium, although it is difficult for me to know,” he added. “I just have to give it my best shot and I won't be disappointed if I don't manage that, I'd like a good result. I have never raced against those guys and they've been racing all year, so it will be difficult to race against them, but I will see what I can manage.

“It was a really impressive performance by Karl at Brands Hatch, so I will be looking to do something similar. The Yamaha is a good bike and Broc Parkes wasn't too far ahead of Karl, so I'll have to see how I fare alongside him.”