Luke Littler has been warned about letting his emotions get the better of him in the latter stages of the World Darts Championship.
The teenager progressed to the last-16 on Saturday with a strong display against Ian White.
He faces another tricky test against Ryan Joyce for a place in the quarter-finals, where he could face either Ricardo Pietreczko or Nathan Aspinall.
The 17-year-old remains the favourite to go all the way and become the youngest world champion in the history of the sport.
Luke Littler has shown plenty of emotion on stage
PA
No player has hit more 180s than Littler through day 11 of the competition and he looked in top form in his opening match against Ryan Meikle.
But Glen Durrant, who reached the quarter-finals of the World Darts Championships in 2020, has noted how Littler has been slow off the mark in both of his matches.
Meikle had two darts for the opening set against Littler, but missed both chances while White also squandered set darts to start their match.
Littler was also full of emotion on stage against White, letting out a huge roar as he secured the victory.
Durrant feels that Littler can channel his passion to help his cause at the Alexandra Palace, but has warned the 17-year-old about letting it get out of control.
“He’s not coming out the traps very quickly but at times he has looked the best player in the tournament,” he said on Sky Sports.
“He’s shown a lot of emotion. We saw when the winning dart went in. He has to channel that, he has to manage that.
“We keep talking about the fact he has an awful lot of responsibility on those shoulders. I think he’s doing mighty fine.”
Luke Littler is through to the last-16
PA
Littler has admitted that he’s not trying to win any friends on stage during his matches and feels some ‘aggression’ is good for his game.
“I feel like it’s the same, but it’s good for myself to show that I can be ruthless,” explained Littler.
“I’m not a nice person at times on the board. I don’t think anyone else is, but it’s always good to have that bit of aggression.
LATEST SPORT NEWS:
Luke Littler faces Ryan Joyce in the next round
PA
“Ian’s been around for many years. He played my grandad!
“But for myself it’s good to be ruthless, especially on that last dart.”