Smith recounts Premier League debut in 2016: "It was finished after night one"

Michael Smith may not be in the Premier League this year but spoke to Sky Sports and recounted his memories of his debut year in 2016.

Smith came into the weekly darting roadshow back then but was eliminated after picking up just one win and one draw from nine matches.

'Bully Boy' admitted he was out of it basically before he was involved.

"I remember I played my first one in Leeds. Gary [Anderson] got ill, so I had to play two on my first ever night. I went out against Peter Wright and Adrian Lewis and lost both. My Premier League was finished after night one," said Smith to Sky Sports.

He also discussed the nerves of the Premier League stage and how it can affect a player.

"That's when you're going to [be nervous] when you get up there, because it's your first time.

"The noise coming down, it just hit you like a train. 'Jeez, how do I get over this?' It is easy if you don't think about it. That's the poor man's excuse, but that's a poor man's advice - 'don't think about it', 'play the board instead of the player'.

"You're not going to play Gerwyn Price, and the next week you only have to play [an easy game]. You've got Gerwyn Price, then Michael van Gerwen, then Gary Anderson, then Nathan Aspinall.

"It's the Premier League. You've got to take your opportunity. But you've also got to prepare yourself to do the right things at the right times.

You might go in there and win the leg to settle yourself down. But you might lose the first three, first four. Even if you get beaten, you've still got another 15 weeks potentially. So it doesn't make a difference. Eight wins could get you in the top four. That's one win, one loss every second week!"