TAYLOR TELLS LITTLER TO WEAR EAR PLUGS AMID BOOING

PHIL TAYLOR has told Luke Littler to wear “ear plugs” to help cope with the booing crowds in the Premier League.

The 16-time world champion believes ‘The Nuke’ is tough enough to handle the jeers on the weekly roadshow and has urged the teenage sensation to stay off social media. 

World No.1 Luke Littler has been subjected to heckling since his incident with Gian van Veen during week nine of the Premier League in Manchester. 

Van Veen appeared to take issue with Littler gesturing towards the crowd after missing a match dart in their quarter-final clash. 

The Dutchman went on to secure a 6-5 victory, before the pair shared a frosty handshake. 

Littler insisted the show of emotion was not directed at Van Veen, but instead aimed at his girlfriend Faith and her father in the crowd. 

The Warrington whizkid was then subjected to loud boos in Brighton last week, as he suffered a 6-4 quarter-final defeat to Stephen Bunting. 

Taylor insists Littler must let his darts do the talking and show everyone what he is capable of. 

He told SunSport: “I think Luke’s tough enough to ride it out. The only way with fans is you’ve got to perform on stage.

“If he performs like he can, he’ll get them back. 

“This week, he’s in Rotterdam. Maybe he’ll go over there, play the first match and think ‘sod it, I’ll qualify anyway (for the finals)’. 

“Because that might be his plan. He might think: ‘Well I’ll just go there, I’ll play, get beat, come home and I’ll qualify anyway.’ Because he has got the ability. 

“Next week, he’s got Liverpool. Obviously he’s a Man Utd fan, so he’s got to have a little bit of stick there. And then after that, he goes to Scotland.

“So, he’s going to get it up there as well. He’s going to get it – so get some earplugs! 

“But I think he’s capable of dealing with it. He’s not a bad lad. 

“He could go up there and think ‘I’m going to show you how good I am’ and play brilliantly. 

“I don’t really do social media. It gets done for me. But if I was to advise Luke I’d say keep off social media. Don’t put anything on. Don’t do it. Don’t rise to it. Leave it alone.” 

Littler will look to fight back when he takes on Gerwyn Price in Rotterdam this Thursday. 

Taylor experienced countless moments in his career where he felt intimidated as crowds backed his opponents, but he learned to cope with the hostility over time. 

He added: “The hardest one I had was when I had double vision, when I played Eric Bristow in the PDC World Championship semi-finals at Purfleet. 

“My heart was pounding that fast. I don’t know how many people were there, say 900 people. I had 899 booing me. One person cheering me on, who daren’t say anything. 

“It’s just part and parcel. In Wales, you get it. In Scotland, you get it. 

“Did I ever feel intimidated? Thousands of times, yeah. But you have to just ride through it. You’ve got no choice. You’re up there to make a living. 

“Sometimes you’re ready to jump off the stage and have a go at somebody. Or you think, I’m going to give it to your mate now, so you can shove it. Let’s see how good he is. 

“It can work two ways. It either winds you up and gets you ready for it. Or your heart is pumping away and you bottle it. 

“The stage can be the best place in the world and also it can be the loneliest, cruellest place in the world.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.