Darts: Anderson relishes SECC encounter

PREMIER League Darts visits Glasgow’s SECC again tonight, with Scotland’s Gary Anderson hoping to give a sell-out crowd plenty to cheer when he takes on Simon Whitlock.

Anderson, who goes into tonight’s event on the back of a thumping 8-1 defeat to current leader Phil Taylor last week, said: “I love playing in Scotland and can’t wait for Thursday because the crowd always give me a lift with their support. I was disappointed with how I played last week against Phil but I was better in the Players Championships at the weekend and hopefully I can play well against Simon.”

Whitlock impressed in a win over world champion Adrian Lewis last week in Brighton, and could move second in the table if he defeats Anderson. “It’s going to be tough,” said the Australian. “I played Phil Taylor in Exeter with the crowd on his side and it didn’t affect me, and hopefully against Gary it won’t.

“He’s a strange player. He can be the best player in the world on his night and I only beat him once last year and every other time we played he was unbelievable against me, so I’ll have to play well on Thursday.”

The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) was forced to defend the decision to take the Premier League back to Glasgow after crowd trouble marred last year’s event at the SECC. Englishman Lewis was hit by coins and pints of beer during his match with Anderson.