Mardle speaks about nightmare Premier League season: "If it was down to me, I'd have played and probably made myself worse'

He admitted he never realised he was ill and that if Barry Hearn wouldn't have pulled him out of the competition he would have kept competing making it worse in the process. "It was odd because I never actually realised I was ill." Mardle said in an interview with "I'm not saying it was doctor Phil Taylor, but I was sitting on a sofa waiting to play in Glasgow. "I was always a bit practicer, as in two or three hours before a match, I get a bit excited, so I never really used to sit down. "I was just sitting there and Phil went "you're not right, do you feel alright?" and I thought, no I don't feel very well actually. "Whether he made me feel bad or not, I don't know! "I played that night, I can't even remember the result but I literally didn't pick up a dart before the game and that was really rare. "Weeks after that I couldn't make it, came back then played one or two weeks in between, I knew it was going to end in disaster because of the way I felt. "For an adult, mumps is nasty, I was in and out of hospital for the best part of four or five months, it was a viral infection that just wouldn't leave. "The best thing that Barry Hearn said to me is that 'we are going to pull you out', I asked if I had a choice and he said 'no, it's for your health and for everyone else.' "If it was down to me, I'd have played and probably made myself even worse, so Barry made a good decision."