Aspinall gives injury update: "It's a concern but I still think I can win this tournament"

Nathan Aspinall avoided a scare on Wednesday evening as he saw off Joe Murnan to reach the Third Round of the 2021/22 PDC World Darts Championship.

Aspinall spoke afterwards and paid tribute to the crowd who he is known to have missed in the last 18 months in particular.

"I'm happy, lucky but proud of how I've dug deep and got that result. It was such a tough game, the crowd were amazing and you know I've said for 12 months how much I miss the crowd. I think that just proves why I miss the crowd, they were on my side - they were absolutely fantastic tonight.

"If it wasn't for them tonight, I would've lost that game. If that was behind closed doors, I'm not coming back - I'm not winning that game. When he misses that match dart, you hear all the fans cheering and you're not only playing for yourself and your family. You're paying for the guys who have paid 50-60 quid to watch me win."

But for Aspinall, there are concerns. He has tendonitis and is playing with strapping on his arm and is in huge pain the day after.

"I've not played - I did it about five weeks ago in my wrist and it's gone from my wrist up my forearm into my elbow. I've had six or seven sessions of acupuncture. It did nothing and it got to the point where I had to have an injection about eight days ago. Once you've had this injection - you can't move your arm for seven days, had that on Friday. I've had three or four days of practice."

"It's uncomfortable but I can still play well. It's a concern but I still think I can win this tournament."