“I’ve got no injuries, no dartitis and nothing to moan about”: Nathan Aspinall says confidence is at an all-time high after Ally Pally win

Nathan Aspinall walked out of Alexandra Palace with a 3-0 win over Leonard Gates, but his post-match press conference made one thing clear. The result was only part of the story.

Aspinall repeatedly returned to the same theme. He feels better than he has in years. No physical problems. No dartitis. No lingering excuses. And, in his own words, not even anything to complain about. “I’ve got no injuries, got no dartitis,” he said, adding that “there’s absolutely no I love to moan and I can’t moan about anything.”

In a tournament where early shocks have already changed the mood around the draw, Aspinall framed his own progress as something quieter and more controlled. Two wins banked. Christmas break earned. Mental energy saved. A tougher level of opponent waiting. And a player who believes he is arriving at the business end with more belief than ever. “It’s the highest it’s ever been,” he said of his confidence. “By an absolute country mile. There’s not even any comparison.”

That confidence came after a straightforward evening on stage, even if it was not always pretty. Aspinall won the opening set despite missing nine darts at doubles, then tightened his grip as Gates missed key chances. Gates briefly drew level at 1-1 in the third set with an 11-dart 81 checkout, but Aspinall finished the job with 70 and then 42 after further misses from the American.

Aspinall did not dress it up as a classic. He described it as a job done, and he was honest about how the standard of the contest shaped what he could produce. “We’re not robots,” he said. “It’s hard to play amazing when your guys not playing well.”

Aspinall’s first answer set the tone. He spoke about the importance of taking the crowd out of the equation early, especially against a player like Gates who can quickly become a favourite in the room. “The Ally Pally crowd, they’re fantastic, but they love an underdog,” he said. “I’ve been in that position myself where you’re an underdog and they want you to win. And the last thing I wanted was 3,000 people chanting USA.”

That is why the opening set mattered so much to him. He wanted to set the rhythm before the noise could tilt the match. Once he had a foothold, he felt he could manage what came next. “After I won the second set, in me head, which is always dangerous, but that job was done,” he said.

He even pointed to a moment that summed up how comfortable he felt, even by his own standards. “There was a moment where I didn’t go for the bull when he was on 152,” he explained. “I never do that, but that’s how I felt my opponent was playing at that time.”

Aspinall described the match in practical terms. When Gates produced a decent visit, he answered. When the doubles mattered, he had enough chances. When the match threatened to linger, he kept it moving. “Every time he kind of hit a decent score, I hit a decent score,” he said. “I did what I had to do.”

Part of Aspinall’s message was aimed at the idea of performance level. He acknowledged he did not hit what some people would label his peak, and he was not bothered. He pointed back to his first match of the tournament, when he said nerves were a bigger issue than form. “First game I was a bag of nerves, but I played well and produced some good stuff,” he said.

This time he felt better in practice, yet he also explained how easy it is to get pulled into the wrong mindset under the lights. “You can get in that trap of trying too hard to impress the crowd and then it all just goes pee on,” he said.

Instead, he spoke about narrowing the task down during the match itself. “At 2-0 up I said to Dean at the break, I was like, just win this leg, win this set,” he said. “It’s not been great, but I’ve won and I’m back after Christmas and that’s what I did.”

Later, he went further, challenging the idea that averages tell the story in set-play. “Everyone else is bothered about averages, certainly in set-play, it means absolutely squat,” he said. “We don’t care.”

Aspinall’s reasoning was simple. Once the tournament returns, the only number that matters is the one beside the winner’s name. “Last 32 after Christmas, you don’t care about that,” he said. “You care about winning.” That is also where he believes his own game becomes more dangerous, because he expects the level coming back at him to rise. “When people are throwing something big at me, I’ll reply with something big,” he said.

The most striking section of the press conference was not about Gates at all. It was about how Aspinall feels in his own body and head right now. He described it as the best he can remember. “This is the first time since I can remember,” he said. “I’ve got no injuries, got no dartitis.”

He also spoke about the value of the schedule, the small benefits that can add up over a long event. “I’ve not even played on the last day this year, which is great,” he said. “So I can get an extra day at home.”

Then came the part he returned to more than once. He believes he has not had to empty the tank mentally in his first two matches, and he thinks that will matter later. “I feel like I’ve saved a lot of mental energy over these first two games,” he said. “I think I’ll need that you know after Christmas certainly.”

That sense of control fed straight into his ambitions for the rest of the tournament. “I’m confident that I can have a deep run,” he said.

Aspinall was asked about the impact of early exits elsewhere in the tournament, and he did not pretend it changed his mindset. “I know my little section,” he said. “It don’t really affect me.” But he did say it reinforces a warning that players learn the hard way, and he included himself in that. “Don’t take people for granted,” he said. “I took Lawrence for granted first game. I’ll openly admit it.”

He explained why that matters at Ally Pally. One set can change the entire night, and one slip can become a story. “If he took that set to go two-all, who knows what would have happened,” he said.

Against Gates, he felt he avoided that trap. He assessed the situation early and stayed focused on the basic requirement. “Very quickly you get to see where their games at and it wasn’t good enough to beat me tonight,” he said.

One of the lighter moments of the press conference still revealed something about the environment at the Worlds. Aspinall was asked to explain the practice room story involving Gates and a Chewbacca mask, and his reaction was instant. “Oh god, I I was really scared,” he said. “I’m not going to lie.”

He explained that he turned around after being tapped on the shoulder and found Gates in the mask, shouting at him. “I turned around and I got Chewbacca shouting at me and it was Leonard Gates with this mask on,” he said. What stuck with him was that it did not stop there. “He decided to then stay on that dart board for the next 10 minutes practicing with the Chewbacca mask on,” he added.

Aspinall described it as “absolutely mental”, but he also made a point of keeping it respectful. “He’s a nice guy he’s a character,” he said. “He could have been a tricky opponent luckily he wasn’t.”

When Aspinall was asked how far he has come from his worst period, his answer shifted the tone again. He spoke about a moment from roughly a year earlier when he felt he was done. “I’m quitting darts,” he said, describing what he told his family. “I was in tears, I can’t do this anymore.”

He credited the work he did away from the oche, including hypnotherapy, and spoke about the change in how he approaches the sport as a professional. “I’ve got everything that you need to be a successful sportsman,” he said.

He admitted he has made mistakes in the past, but framed this season as a turning point in maturity and purpose. “I’ve been given a gift, an opportunity to be very successful in life and I don’t want to f it up,” he said.

That is the thread that ran through the full press conference. The match itself was a routine 3-0. The bigger message was about where he believes he is heading. “I’ve not really shown anything so far in this tournament,” he said. “I’ve just won.”

And in a competition where survival is the first requirement, Aspinall sounded perfectly happy with that.