Luke Littler vows to be darts’ own Neal Maupay as he puts pressure on Michael van Gerwen | Other | Sport

Luke Littler claims to ‘enjoy’ the back-and-forth between his fellow darts players and stars from other sports following his social media squabble with Brentford striker Neal Maupay earlier this week. ‘The Nuke’ spoke out ahead of Thursday’s Premier League Darts meeting in Manchester, where he faces Michael van Gerwen in his quarter-final.

Littler has not shied away from the spotlight since shooting to fame at the World Darts Championship. Maupay was the latest to receive stick from the 17-year-old after teasing Manchester United star Scott McTominay on Instagram.

As a Red Devils supporter himself, Littler commented on the post, which joked that McTominay was a ‘fan’ trying to steal Maupay’s shirt, with: “Talks more than he scores!” The Brentford striker hit back with a video of Littler celebrating a 170 checkout, captioned: “Talk about a big fish.”

After dishing it out and getting some back, teenage sensation Littler is adamant that there is more to come. “I enjoy it,” he insisted. “Everyone knows who Neal Maupay is and what he does.

“Personally, I laugh at what he does so I had my 20p worth, and why not? It’s all part of the fun. With the Newcastle fans, I had a bit of banter with Chris Dobey, and United beating Liverpool was a big game to win, so I had my 20p worth on social media again. If other people can’t hack it, bad luck.”

Littler is riding a wave of confidence after clinching his first weekly Premier League Darts win in Belfast last time out, beating Luke Humphries, Van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall en route to glory and moving up to second in the table.

“I’ve got a tough game – Michael brings the best out of me but I seem to bring the best out of him. He hasn’t been in the best of form but we know he’s got those extra gears to switch on.

“I’m well-placed in the table and I feel comfortable now I’m second. Hopefully the crowd will be on my side, and they will get involved on the walk-on, but as soon as the referee says ‘Game on’, I won’t be swept up by the noise.”