Dolan was affected by World Matchplay qualification talk before latest ProTour title: “Maybe I was thinking too much”

Brendan Dolan saw off Jonny Clayton in the final of Players Championship 21 to seal the last tournament before the World Matchplay but after not winning many matches recently, he admitted that the qualification talk originally affected his game.

"Everyone was telling me I was a dead cert to qualify [for the World Matchplay] but I knew that I wasn't mathematically in," Dolan admitted.

"So that was on my mind, maybe I was thinking too much about qualifying for that and the World Grand Prix which was why I couldn't win a game the last three days.

"I've had a really bad year, to be fair. I've possibly put myself under too much pressure and not even been able to qualify for European Tours.

"Today I just wanted to win one game. I never felt like I was playing well enough to win it, I got lucky today at times.

"There were moments of good darts but there wasn't enough consistency so I'm not going to get too excited about this win. But, in the context of my year, this is massive.”