Clayton could sense Littler plotting revenge after ending his clean-sweep bid

JONNY CLAYTON says he could sense Luke Littler was already plotting revenge after ending his clean-sweep bid.

The world No5 stunned Littler 10-4 in the World Series Finals quarter-final in Amsterdam last week to dash his hopes of winning every major PDC title in 2026.

Clayton, 51, joked he knew exactly what Littler was thinking when they came face-to-face again at the World Grand Prix.

The Ferret kicked off his campaign in Leicester with a 2-1 victory over Krzysztof Ratajski.

But Clayton knows any potential rematch with Littler would be a completely different test at the Mattioli Arena because of the format.

He said: “It’s a different game. It’s a double start, double in and double out. My mindset is on trying to hit that first double.

“Obviously it's a great thing to do. Wherever it be I was the one to stop his run.

“He was looking at me earlier on and I could see in his eyes he was going to go, ‘I'm going to batter you the next time I play you’ I could see it.

“He's a great kid, massive asset to darts but this is a double in double out competition and hopefully I see him in the final.”

The Welshman is now targeting a FIFTH major title and his first PDC crown of the season.

Clayton has reached two Players Championship finals this year but fallen short on both occasions.

He also finished runner-up at the Belgian Darts Open after losing 8-6 to Luke Humphries.

Clayton returns to action on Wednesday and will face either Wessel Nijman or Rob Cross for a place in the quarter-final at the Grand Prix.

Words: Aaron Nijjar