GREAT BRITAIN Davis Cup captain Leon Smith insists Andy Murray’s attitude to the competition does not risk jeopardising the team’s new-found confidence.

The British number one chose to skip the 5-0 win over Turkey, having also missed the defeat by Lithuania in March, which put the team in danger of being relegated to the lowest tier of the competition.

They guaranteed they would avoid that humiliation on Saturday, when victory for Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski in the doubles rubber gave Britain an unassailable 3-0 lead at Eastbourne’s Devonshire Park, preserving their status in Europe/Africa Zone Group II.

World number four Murray has continued his policy of choosing whether to play on a tie-by-tie basis despite the appointment of his former coach Smith.

‘‘It’s no problem,’’ said the Scot. ‘‘When he wants to come back in the team of course we’ll love that because he’s one of the world’s best players and any team in the world would love to have Andy Murray in it.

‘‘We’re all friends with Andy, we’ve all got close relationships with him, and that positivity is something we enjoy. Everyone is working together to make things better.’’ British players have frequently been guilty of not rising to the occasion against opponents they had a chance of beating, but that has certainly not been the case this weekend, with James Ward beating a player in Marsel Ilhan who is ranked almost 200 places above him.

And Smith acknowledged there is a certain truth in Murray’s reasoning, even if he would prefer the 23-yearold to be part of the team.

‘‘Of course they now go away with great confidence from winning in what is a pressure situation,’’ he said of Ward and Jamie Baker, who set Britain on the way to victory with a win in the opening singles match.

‘‘Importantly they can build on that for the rest of the year, so of course it has its positives in that way.’’ Smith will now concentrate on his other role as head of men’s tennis for the Lawn Tennis Association until Britain’s next Davis Cup tie in March, where they will look to give themselves a chance of exiting Group II in the right direction.

Baker made it 4-0 to Britain with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Tuna Altuna, and Ward then completed a 5-0 whitewash in emphatic fashion with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Ergun Zorlu.