Aspinall sacrifices N-Dubz tickets for finals day at Grand Slam of Darts: "I'd rather hold that trophy than shake hands with Dappy"

While not at his best, Nathan Aspinall sealed a hard fought win over Alan Soutar 16-12 at the Grand Slam of Darts for a semi-final clash with Luke Humphries this afternoon in Wolverhampton.

Pleased to get through but by his own admission, he wasn't at his best and at the time, he wasn't sure who he would play but knew he'd need to up his level.

"I'm buzzing obviously to get through, another semi-final of a major and I'm on cloud nine. Performance wise, I'm disappointed. I let him in so many times. i wasn't clinical enough but I'm not a guy who looks at the negatives. I'm going to take the positives that I'm into finals day. So I don't care, I'm in the semi-finals happy days,"

"I will not relax and I will not step off the boil as bad as I did tonight. I believe I can win but I have to perform and play well to win so tomorrow (Sunday) will be a different Nathan. If I was playing a Van Gerwen, Smith or Gezzy tonight, I wouldn't have won that game."

"If I want to become an elite player, I've got to learn to play well from start to finish in these matches."

He also had tickets to go and see N-Dubz who reunited for a tour this year and he said that while he'd prefer to win the title in Wolverhampton, that he is secretly a fan despite mainly going for his partner, Kirsty.

"Her birthday is on Friday when we go Minehead every year, she has a rubbish birthday every year. She loves Dappy and Tulisa so I bought N-Dubz tickets and I actually like it too. I can't go with her tomorrow, I'd rather hold that trophy than shake hands with Dappy."

But while he can't attend an arena show in this case, he hopes to back in them for the Premier League next year and hopes he gives the selectors a real headache.

"That's the plan. I want to be back in the Premier League, that's where I believe I belong. I want to be with the elite players. It's down to me to prove I should be in it."