"I’m confident I’ll definitely be back in the top 10" - £1 million prize pot the target for Nathan Aspinall as he looks to ride positive momentum into Ally Pally

Nathan Aspinall is raring to go for his PDC World Darts Championship to start. He will face Lourence Ilagan on December 19 as he looks to get back within the top 10 in the world.

It has been a mixed season for 'The Asp.' While there have been huge improvements in his game which he has reaped the rewards for, the prior struggles experience have come back to bite him, seeing him drop outside the top 20 in the PDC Order of Merit. However, with very little to defend at the upcoming PDC World Darts Championship, he will be hoping for a rise up the order, with him happy with the date of his match.

"I’m feeling good and confident. I like that we’re playing two games and I like playing on the 19th. When the schedule came out, I prayed I wasn’t on the 12th or 13th because 10 days between games – I don’t practise, everyone knows I hate practising – I wouldn’t feel prepared," he told Online Darts. "Now I play the 19th, and then probably the 22nd or 23rd. It’s perfect: day rest, day practise, go home for Christmas, come back. I’m happy with my draw. I’m confident I’ll come through the Ilagan game, and then it’ll probably be Mickey [Mansell] or Leonard Gates. They’re similar types of players, not very fast. I’m confident I can have a deep run."

It was a vintage version of Aspinall which turned up in Minehead to compete at the Players Championship Finals. Despite concerns before in which he may not qualify, he made a deep run al the way to the final where an ominous Luke Littler derailed his title hopes, losing 11-8.

While the final did not go the way it could have, it was still a great weekend for the former World Matchplay champion. "It was a big weekend for myself. Everyone knows my love for a Players Championship isn’t great," he admitted. "But I was there at the weekend and I said to Chris [Dobey] on the Friday when we both won, 'Let’s both stay for the weekend.' He made the quarters, I think, and I obviously made it all the way to the final. Forgetting about the final, the Noppert game and the Josh Rock game were fantastic. They had a bit of everything. I think it showed me where my game’s at.

To get to that final, he did something that the big two regularly do. "To win those two games in the manner that I did showed that I have that extra gear when I need it. It’s all about being a good dart player, but that’s what makes Luke [Littler] and Luke [Humphries] so good – they find that extra five or ten percent at crucial times. I believe that’s what I did in those games. So yeah, very happy to get back to a major final. Another loss – I’m sick of these runner-up trophies! I think I could have won ten majors by now. But it is what it is. Great weekend, and it’s shot me back up the rankings."

The match was a chance to get him back into the top 16, with him labelling it as a 'missed opportunity.' "It wasn’t my best game, but I take the positives away," Aspinall said. "Another major final, and we talked at the start of the tournament that I could get back into the top 16. I’m now projected 12 after the Worlds, and I’m defending nothing at the Worlds this year, so I’m confident I’ll definitely be back in the top 10."

Despite his fall down the rankings, he is proud of what he has done this year. "Looking at the bigger picture, I’m proud of what I’ve done this year. I don’t like naming players, but look at Rob Cross, Michael Smith, Dave Chisnall, Joe Cullen – they’ve fallen down the rankings and haven’t climbed back up. If you look at me and Gezzy [Price], we’ve done the opposite. If you take the ranking money – £150,000 from the three Euro Tours and the runner-up – if you don’t add that to my ranking, I’m 34th in the world. So I’ve had to do something. Gezzy was in the same boat. I think it’s testament to my whole season. I’ve had a consistent, steady season, and that’s put me back in the top 16."

Earlier in the year, Aspinall joked that he would retire if he won the World Championship and the immense sum of cash tagged along with it. However, this was a joke.

"It was tongue-in-cheek, but a million pounds is life changing. But once you pay management, tax — you’ve got about four quid left! Especially now tax has gone up again. Whoever wins the Worlds this year will get massive sponsor deals because it’s the first £1 million champion. I believe there are eight or nine guys who can realistically win this year, and I put myself in that category," he concluded.