Luke Littler admitted he wants the Alexandra Palace crowd 'on his side again' after breezing through to the World Darts Championship semi-finals.
Littler was barely troubled in his 5-0 win over Krzysztof Ratajski, where he cruised into the semi-finals of the World Darts Championship for the third year running and booked a meeting with Ryan Searle.
The 18-year-old entered his quarter-final clash under scrutiny after his post-match comments from his previous-round win over Rob Cross, where he responded to fans booing him by saying: "Am I bothered? Really, am I bothered?! Really not bothered!
"Can I just say one thing? You guys pay for the tickets and you pay for my prize money so thank you, thank you for my money! Thank you for booing me. Thank you - come on!"
Those comments led to boos ringing out as Littler took to his walk-on against Ratajski, but those quickly turned into chants of 'There is only one Luke Littler' as he took the opening set with a 170 checkout.
Littler posted a 100.04 average and fired 10 maximums during his straight-sets win, then admitted post-match that he now feels well equipped to deal with any criticism thrown his way.
"Obviously, it is a new year, first day of the year. A few boos here and there," Littler added.
"But as soon as I got on stage, the crowd was absolutely unbelievable. Leading up to it, family and friends were just like, whatever happens, happens.
"As soon as I got on stage, I clapped everyone just so they knew, I want them on my side again. They were on my side tonight and I got the job done. So hopefully, it is the same again tomorrow.
"I am growing as a player mentally. I know how to deal with it and I think the Rob Cross game definitely tested me. But yeah, I got through it. In future games, I know how to deal with it and get past it."
Despite a seemingly comfortable victory victory, the experience for Littler was anything but as he revealed that he had struggled with his throw throughout, changing it on multiple occasions.
He puts part of that issue down to having had a couple of days off and not bringing a dartboard to practice with in his house.
However, he did not bring one to practice with either when he won a year ago and is using the same tactic as he tries to become the first player to go back-to-back at the Worlds since Gary Anderson in 2016 with a semi-final against Ryan Searle the next task.
"I am very happy to get through. Obviously I have not been practising for nearly two and a half, three days," he added.
"I tried to change my throw here, there and everywhere. Most importantly, I got the job done.
"Just not practising, just being lazy in the house. Obviously, we've not brought our dartboard down.
"So yeah, I can't really practice, but I would have loved to. Now we play day after day so hopefully tomorrow's a bit better.
"We stayed in the house last year and it worked. Obviously, last year, house, no board, won it.
"House this year, no board- see what happens!"
The World Darts Championship continues on Friday January 2, where Luke Littler takes on Ryan Searle and Gary Anderson faces Gian van Veen for a spot in the final.
You can watch both semi-finals from 7pm on Your Site Darts.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match exclusively live until January 3 on Your Site' dedicated darts channel (Sky channel 407). .
