Stephen Burton will return to the PDC Tour for the first time since losing his Tour Card in 2018 and is ready to put the hours in to achieve his goals.
Always a Challenge Tour standout, he has narrowly missed out on a return multiple times but will look to make the most of it.
“I’d like to say it’s probably been a long time coming,” Burton said to
Suffolk News. “I’ve always competed quite well on the Challenge Tour and I’ve missed out on a tour card in that a couple of times narrowly.
“I had a completely different mindset this year. I wasn’t worried about the outcome when normally I put myself under so much pressure expecting to get one.
"You can't be like that. It's a bit of a lottery for the golden ticket.
“I now know how much time and dedication you have to put in. You can’t just expect to turn up at these ProTour events and think you’re going to be turning people over, not with the standard it is now.
“I’ve got to put a bit more effort in, especially on the practice board.
"Obviously I still work full-time. I'm a self-employed window cleaner and I've had my own business for 16 years.
"I really enjoy my job. I just love being outside, so I'll probably never give up work, but I've just got to put a bit more time and dedication in to darts because before you know it those two years could be over.
"I'm hoping not to make that mistake again. I've got to maybe take an extra day off than I normally would just to practice and get a nice balance of working and hopefully things will work out well."