LUKE HUMPHRIES insists he is not seeking “revenge” over Luke Littler ahead of their Premier League clash in Belfast.
The world champ has not beaten the teen sensation since their famous Ally Pally clash on January 3.
But classy ‘Cool Hand’ has dismissed any talk of rivalry and just wants to blow away the Warrington wonderkid as he chases a record-breaking four night wins in succession.
Humphries said: “He’s not been as consistent, of course, but he also has that level where he can blow anybody away. Like I have.
“So I could blow him away or he could blow me away, I think we are both very consistent players.
“He might not be playing at his optimum best but he has always got that game where he can blow somebody away. I am really looking forward to it.
“It should be a good game. I haven’t beaten him since the Worlds. I don’t think I have. It’s not revenge. There is no revenge in darts – I won the biggest tournament in the world.
“He has beaten me a few times but that’s because he’s so good. You can never have revenge in darts. You can beat somebody 20 times in a row but if you get the one that really means the most, then it doesn’t matter.”
Humphries has also hit back at Peter Wright’s critics saying he “deserves his place” in the Premier League.
He added: “I honestly don’t think he’s playing poorly at the moment. He didn’t start off the season very well but I think he’s started to play a lot better.
“The last two or three weeks, he played a massive great game against Luke Littler in Newcastle. Then he didn’t have the best of nights in the fifth one.
“The sixth one he played really good. Last week, he had a great game against Gerwyn Price and then I was on fire, so you cannot ask for more.
“Peter couldn’t have done any else. Then last week, I was on fire against him again. He’s just been unlucky, he has run into some great performances.
“Peter is playing a lot better. He deserves to be here. Hopefully he can start keeping that up and keep pushing everybody in the league and he deserves his place.”
Humphries is going for a record four night wins in succession in Belfast having matched Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith’s hat-trick of victories last week.
‘Cool Hand’ is delighted to silence his critics, adding: “Sometimes you want to prove people wrong but now I have to the stage where I need to stop listening to people’s opinions. Because it will just drive you insane.
“You will never please everybody. It’s just the way life is. You are never going to be everybody’s cup of tea unfortunately but the support I have had has been absolutely fantastic since the worlds.
“Some negativity. But for the one negative I see online, I get nine positive. I only look at the positive. If I get positive, I reply to that.
If I get negative, I just ignore it. The fans are absolutely fantastic. The game is growing fantastically well also. I am going to enjoy the sport for the next couple of years at least being at the top.”
Night Nine – SSE Arena, Belfast. Quarter-Finals; Luke Humphries v Luke Littler, Michael Smith v Michael van Gerwen, Nathan Aspinall v Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross v Peter Wright.
Images by Taylor Lanning.
