Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake has no problem racing against convicted dopers, insisting he will beat them clean.

The world’s second fastest man was in Manchester last week to help showcase the good side of the sport after the drug bans handed down to Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell dragged it through the mud.

American Gay will be back as early as next month, having been banned for only a year after testing positive three times for an anabolic steroid, a punishment criticised as too lenient by a number of current and former athletes.

Powell revealed he would appeal his 18-month suspension for testing positive for a banned stimulant.

Asked for his take on the doping situation, Blake, the Olympic silver medallist over 100m and 200m, said: “It’s bad, but I close my mind from it because I don’t want to hear anything about it.

“There’s always a little bit of concern in your mind (about what people think about all sprinters). But you know what you can do, so you don’t worry about it.

“Everyone has their different penalties. Tyson Gay is coming back soon. I’m happy, he’s a great competitor.

“Whatever he does I’m ready. I don’t mind (running against drug cheats). I can beat them clean.”

Blake has more than enough on his plate to worry about others as he aims to bounce back from a 2013 season decimated by a hamstring tear.

The timing of the injury, which denied him the chance to defend his world title in Moscow, was cruel given he had run his 100m personal best of 9.69s late in 2012.

The blow even left him fearing for his future in the sport.

“It took a toll on me,” he said.

“I won’t say I didn’t have fear. But I said, ‘Listen, I’m the second fastest man in the universe, I can get back to where I was.”