Smith hits back at Van Gerwen's comments: 'I can say now he's not mentally strong because he looked like he couldn't be bothered'

Michael Smith reached the final of the US Darts Masters in Las Vegas losing out in the end to Nathan Aspinall and afterwards he hit back at previous comments made by Michael van Gerwen.

Van Gerwen before losing out to 'Bully Boy' said that he is not mentally strong and he said that for him, the win was even more pleasing due to that.

He added the roles can now be reversed after the victory as in his opinion, he couldn't be bothered playing. In terms of losing out to Aspinall, the St Helens ace said that for him it's nice to win games when he's not playing well and that in terms of TV tournaments, he's had an ok start to the year.

"The win was more pleasing because of the rubbish he said about me not being mentally strong," Smith told Live Darts.

"If I wasn't mentally strong, I would have asked for help seven years ago when I started struggling, so that's just a load of rubbish.

"To beat him, I can say now that he's not mentally strong because he looked like he couldn't be bothered playing.

"It's nice to get wins when you're not playing well.

"I played well against Gerwyn Price in the Semi-Finals and it was nice to get the win there. I've reached the World Championship final, the Semi-Finals of the UK Open and the final in Vegas, so it's not too bad."