"I still believe I'll make it" - Rob Cross backs himself to make Premier League Darts playoffs despite having work to do

The Premier League Darts roadshow rolls into Birmingham this week for Night 13, with a crucial quarter-final clash between Rob Cross and Michael van Gerwen. The stakes are high for both players as the race for playoff qualification intensifies.

With just four nights remaining in the regular season, the battle for the coveted top four spots — which secure a place at the playoffs in London’s O2 Arena — is heating up.

Luke Littler currently tops the table with 30 points, four clear of second-placed Luke Humphries. Gerwyn Price sits third, ten points adrift of Littler, while Nathan Aspinall holds the fourth and final playoff spot with 17 points.

Rob Cross finds himself provisionally in sixth, but with just a three-point gap to Aspinall, his hopes are far from over. The 2019 Premier League runner-up remains confident he can force his way into the playoff picture in the closing weeks. "Four weeks to go, three points the difference. We've reached crunch time now," Cross smiles in conversation with Tungsten Tales.

"I need to get probably a few more point. Maybe 10 points, around that. Maybe a little bit more," previews 'Voltage'. "But look, I just need to play well every week and perform. I need to put points on the board."

Clearly, Cross remains confident in his playoff hopes. "I've always sort of been up and around it. I've had a couple of unlucky weeks, but that's darts. But overall, I'm happy with my game and I think I'm playing well," he explains. "Sixteen weeks is a long time. But you look at four weeks left and think: 'Right. Give it everything that I've got left now for the next four weeks.' And I still believe I'll make it."

Cross takes on Van Gerwen tonight in the quarterfinals in Birmingham. "It's massively important, I'll be honest," Cross concludes. "I need to start making a move now, getting myself back up towards there. I don't want to be leaving it to the last week, that's for sure."