Clayton jokes he will “lock” Littler in the toilet to derail clean-sweep bid

JONNY CLAYTON joked he will lock Luke Littler in the TOILET to stop the teen sensation completing a historic clean sweep.

The world No5 booked his place in the World Series Finals quarter-finals with a 10-8 victory over Motomu Sakai in Amsterdam.

Both players averaged just over 90 in a scrappy contest, with Sakai missing two darts at tops to force a deciding leg before Clayton held his nerve to land double 16.

Clayton, 51, will now face either Littler or Nathan Aspinall in the last eight.

The Nuke has already mopped up all six major titles this season and is bidding to add the remaining five to his haul.

Clayton quipped he may have to resort to desperate measures if Littler comes through his clash with Aspinall.

He said: “I might lock him in the toilet on the way down.

“All jokes aside, I have done it before on the Premier League stage, so I am going to go out full of confidence and enjoy it.

“Tomorrow is going to be a tough game whoever I play because Nathan is on fire at the moment as well.

“Pity they weren’t in the other half because then I would be okay.”

The Ferret was also full of praise for Littler, crediting him with helping raise the profile of the sport.

He added: “I think he is a fantastic player. I think the world of darts is massive with him in.

“This old todger I am going to try and beat him again. But we are all there.

“At the end of the day it was Phil [Taylor], Michael [van Gerwen], now it’s Littler.

“To be fair, we can’t forget Luke Humphries because that guy is fantastic as well.

“They are setting standards we have to chase. If you want to win a tournament, you have to beat them.”

The Welshman has enjoyed a steady campaign, reaching the quarter-finals of both the World Championship and World Matchplay.

But Clayton knows he will need to raise his level after his struggles against Sakai if he is to claim a fifth PDC Premier event title.

He added: “That was tough. Both of us missed loads and loads of doubles. I can’t say I was in charge of the game because I wasn’t.

“To be fair, he was giving me chances I was not taking. But that 126 to go 8-7 up made it alright.

“I have not played him before. So, that is a lesson learned. It’s concentration all the time and I have to be on my game.”

Words: Aaron Nijjar