"I want to be in bed" - Gary Anderson advances at Players Championship Finals despite being full of cold

Gary Anderson struggled to progress for the second round of the Players Championship Finals. A struggle that wasn't just caused by the darts of his opponent.

Squeaking past Steve Beaton 6-5 in the opening round, Anderson revealed post-match he'd been battling illness. "I want to be in bed," the 52-year-old Scot laughed to Online Darts. "I got there in the end but I'm not really known for my energy levels anyway. Like I said we got there in the end and that's all that matters."

However, 'The Flying Scotsman' has been in excellent form in recent months. At the past Grand Slam of Darts, he could only be stopped by eventual tournament winner, Luke Humphries. "The way Luke played and the way that he won it, I don't think anyone else got closer," Anderson says positively. "I'm happy with the way I'm playing so I can't complain."

Anderson is experiencing a resurgence of late after a few difficult years. "The last three years I've not wanted to play darts and I've not played darts. People never believed me that I wasn't playing but now you know like I say, we're practicing since last January and it's came on leaps and bounds."

In the second round, Anderson will take on Dimitri Van den Bergh on Saturday, who was too strong for Jim Williams in his opening match, 6-4.