"I don't care what the keyboard warriors think" - Jonny Clayton blocking out the haters as he prepares for World Darts Championships

Jonny Clayton starts this year's PDC World Darts Championship as the ninth series leader. The 49-year-old Welshman is exempt in the first round and will next meet the winner of the duel between Steve Lennon and Owen Bates.

Clayton is preparing for the World Darts Championship with some exhibition tournaments. "I need match practice you know," he explains. "There's a few more to come and hopefully it's going to prepare me for the Worlds."

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'The Ferret' reached the quarter-finals at last year's World Championship, in which he lost against Dimitri Van den Bergh. "I know who I'm playing. It either Steve Lennon or Owen Bates so I just need to concentrate on that first. I need to get past that round and I won't look too far ahead. I'll take it game by game and hopefully I can do some damage."

Clayton reached the final at this year's World Matchplay, after which he performed much less well. "I don't care what anyone else thinks," the Welshman says, responding to some criticism he has received online. "I need to do it for me, I don't care what the keyboard warriors think."

At the World Championship, Clayton has another reason to perform well, potentially garnering selection for the Premier League. "I'd be a liar if I said I don't think that I'm good enough to be in there," he says. "I love the competition and I want to be in it. But it's not me that picks, if it was I'd be the first pick."

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