The pressure is building on defending Premier League Champion James Wade but the Unicorn star is adamant that things WILL come right.
Wade is currently rooted to the bottom of the table after failing to pick up a single win in his opening four matches.
His frustrations continued in Exeter, when he threw away leads of 3-0 and 7-4 to only manage a draw against Adrian Lewis, despite a couple of brilliant finishes – 148 and 132 (bull, bull, D16).
“I am definitely playing myself back into form. I can feel it and I am certainly putting in the practice hours in an effort to turn things round,” he said.
Wade opens proceedings at the MEN Arena against a resurgent Ronnie Baxter, who is in top form at the moment.
“I know if I can get that first win, I can kick on and I really do believe I will qualify for the semi-finals,” Wade added. “I am not going to give up my Premier League title that easily!”
Wade’s form away from the Premier League this year has been pretty good. He ran up against a ‘hot’ Gary Anderson in Germany at the weekend, with the Scot winning 6-0 in just 76 remarkable darts, but ‘The Machine’ is very close to getting back to his best.
On the PDC Pro Tour this year, he has reached two semi-finals, two quarter-finals and twice reached the last 16.
“I have been averaging 110 in the floor tournaments but then one bad performance costs me and that is frustrating.”
And he has a message for the critics!
“It’s more ammunition for me to hear people saying that I can’t play anymore. That is rubbish and I will prove it. I am still one of the best players in the world and on my day I can, have and will beat anyone!”
Fighting talk from the Unicorn star and if he can beat Baxter in Manchester, it will give him a lot of confidence in the race for semi-final spots.
Elsewhere in Manchester, it’s the battle of the top two as Phil Taylor takes on Mervyn King, with ‘The Power’ chasing more revenge after his shock defeat at the hands of King in last year’s Premier League semi-finals.
Raymond van Barneveld is desperate for a win! Barney has lost three matches in succession, so he knows he must win the all Unicorn clash against Terry Jenkins. ‘The Bull’ suffered his first defeat of the event in Exeter against King.
Adrian Lewis features in the finale of week five in what could be the match of the night against Simon Whitlock.
Manchester week five schedule:
James Wade v Ronnie Baxter
Phil Taylor v Mervyn King
Terry Jenkins v Raymond van Barneveld
Adrian Lewis v Simon Whitlock
And as always, you can follow the Premier League action here on the Unicorn website.
By STUART PYKE
Photo courtesy Chris Sargeant