"Don't worry, I'll be here in 10 years": Luke Littler rubbishes Nathan Aspinall's early retirement prediction

Nathan Aspinall chimed that Luke Littler would likely retire within around five years due to being fed up already with playing and travelling but 'The Nuke' has extinguished that fire by saying he will be around in 10.

With the rise in darting prize money, perhaps Aspinall was right to think this with £1million for the World Darts Championship winner in December and players like Littler making fortunes within only a year or so of playing senior darts. He also mooted this due to the distractions of being an 18-year-old being friends for instance with famous streamer Angryginge.

"I know I've heard that, I don't know where he's got that from - don't worry, I'll be here in 10 years," Littler said to Sky Sports in response to Aspinall's words to talkSPORT.

"It's crazy to even think about retiring. If I win 16 world titles like Phil (Taylor), I'll retire, but I'm not even thinking about retirement at the minute - the money is there to be won, especially the World Championship but not only that everything has gone up.

"It is all about what you're feeling and I'm sure I'll be here for a long time."

He is also ahead of Premier League Darts finals night knowing of the fact that he has a target on his back and it's why in his view, he has to constantly raise the stakes and perform better to ward off the competition.

"For the last 18 months there's been a target on my back," he added. "Since I first came on tour and made the World Championship final, I just knew.

"From the moment I walked into my first Pro Tour [floor competition], I knew everyone wanted to beat me. That is still the same now. There will always be a target on my back and I know if I'm not on my A-game, they will catch me out."