"Going to need support and guidance, not to be kicked when he is down": James Wade urges media to not bash Luke Littler when form drop comes

James Wade has hit the darting spotlight again for both his post match interviews at the World Matchplay but also his words on the elite darting stars and their treatment. But he has also spoken out praising Luke Littler and in particular calling for the media not to bash him when the inevitable drop off comes.

Wade used his column for the Daily Star to clarify his post match interviews and also to show support for Luke Littler in a call to the media not to jump on his back when it all goes wrong eventually. As no player Wade continues can sustain that form so he will have peaks and troughs.

"My post-match interviews seem to be causing a bit of a stir on social media, so I will clarify one or two things," said Wade to Daily Star. "I have talked about some players getting well looked after, all the invitations to events and getting a bit of an easy ride. That is true. However, you have to earn the right to be in the conversation for those spots and I haven't done enough at this point to do that.

"I am making it easy for them to ignore me. I am determined for that to change - and this run at the World Matchplay is a good starting point. I also spoke about Luke Littler following his first round exit at the hands of Michael van Gerwen. Luke seems to be drawing some detractors at the moment and it seems a few people want to run him down."

"I beg you not to. He is brilliant for the game, but he is going to hit a bad spell. This is not his bad spell - he averaged over 100 against MVG - but it is inevitable and when it happens he is going to need support and guidance, not to be kicked when he is down."

"He is wonderful for the sport and we all owe him a debt of gratitude. He has brought a new focus to the game, brought new sponsors and a new audience. Nobody should forget that."