TOM Daley and Peter Waterfield will be “licking their wounds” in Southend as they prepare away from the intensity of the Olympics for their next bid to land medals.

Great Britain’s two best divers finished an agonizing fourth place in the 10m synchro on Monday and immediately turned their attention to the individual event next week.

The duo will once again face incredibly high expectation levels of a medal, but Southend diving coach Bill Clarke says it will be even more difficult for them to reach the podium in the solo high-board competition.

“I’d say it will be even tougher for them in the individual,” said the vastly experienced Clarke, who will be at Garon Park to help make sure the facilities are ready for the divers over the next fortnight.

“With the synchro events, Great Britain had an automatic place in the final.

“But with the individual they will have to qualify through prelims and semi-finals, and it will be a strong field – so it’s going to be tough.

“They are both capable of making the final, certainly, but then it’s a case of who does the business on the day.”

Daley and Waterfield are due to arrive at Southend’s £13.5million dive centre today.

Clarke said he was disappointed to hear Daley had allegedly abused on Twitter, but said he had not followed what had happened closely.

And the man who has coached three south Essex diving Olympians says the relative tranquility of Southend is now just what the divers need to prepare for their next appearance in front of a world-wide audience of millions at the Aquatic Centre at the Olympic Park on August 10.

Clarke said: “They will be back here to work with their individual coaches in Southend right up until they compete in their individual events.

“It just gives them an opportunity to train away from the pressure of being at the Olympic Park and the distractions, so they can concentrate.

“They will be licking their wounds a bit because obviously everyone was keen for them to get a medal.

“And but for one dive they certainly could have got that medal. “But it was just their reverse three-and-a-half summersault where they made a bit of an error.

“That cost them, dearly, because you just can’t make any errors at that level.”