This will be the first race between the rivals since Kerr stunned Olympic champion and hot favourite Ingebrigtsen last August to win the world 1500 metres title in Budapest, a result that triggered a war of words between the two.

After coming up short in Budapest, Ingebrigtsen called Kerr "just the next guy". Kerr later claimed Ingebrigtsen has "major weaknesses" and the Norwegian fired back saying he could beat the Briton "blindfolded".

Now sitting side-by-side during a pre-meet press conference on Friday, Kerr was in no mood for sugar-coating things when asked to describe his relationship with Ingebrigtsen ahead of their clash at the Diamond League event.

"I wouldn’t say this is a counselling session so I don’t know if I can explain our relationship," Kerr told reporters.

"But we are fierce competitors who both want to be the best in the world and that’s not going to change irregardless of comments."