"They were hoping of me playing last night, but then England lost in the football": Michael van Gerwen sees practical reason for sudden World Matchplay afternoon slot

Michael van Gerwen continued his World Matchplay love affair on Sunday afternoon as he saw off Andrew Gilding 10-6 to reach the second round where he faves Dirk van Duijvenbode.

Beating a player that he often has failed to beat in the past, Van Gerwen spoke to the media including DartsNews.com afterwards and said that he isn't a numpty and that he deserves respect for his play.

"I think he put me under pressure straight in the beginning because I think I could have done a little bit more and I gave him confidence. Then you can see why he's capable of a couple of good finishes at the right moments," he said to the media including DartsNews.com.

"And yeah, that's the way how it is. And then after the 4-1 down you need to make sure you get your nuts back together and make sure you do well at the right moment, but it's sometimes hard. You don't get a lot of energy from him, so you need to try to make your own game and that's tough sometimes.

"But more importantly, I won the game and that's the only thing that matters, especially in this stage of the tournament.

"I'm the bogey player myself. No, no, of course in patches he can play really well and he did well over the last few years in darts as well. He's not a numpty, you know what I mean? He can definitely play darts. So you need to make sure you do the right things against him."

Littler was shocked that he was playing an afternoon session and Van Gerwen doesn't read too much into it using the practical reason that they thought England would reach the final.

"But listen, was they thinking about me playing an afternoon session or was they, you know, they want to make me..."

"They were hoping of me playing last night, but then England lost in the football, of course.

"And just look... it isn't flat, people are just enjoying themselves, you know what I mean? I think for the rest, I'm just busy with trying to win my game."

But that's the way it is. I just need to make sure I've got a one-day rest. Tuesday night I need to make sure I'm ready for him.

Around Dutch darts, it was noted that MVG still has this aura and he joked that he was playing in the event before Littler was even born as well as saying he prefers looking at the future over the past.

"I think they will never go away. I've been in the game for a long time and I still love what I do, but for me, what happened in the past is history. I rather look to the future.

"I was playing this tournament before Luke Littler was born. Of course not, that's only a dream. You need to try to make it a reality, and as long as you keep investing time in yourself, you keep believing in your own ability, then anything is possible, I think."

Facing Andrew Gilding is often a fairly arduous battle and it is for Van Gerwen also who has a poor record against him as of late and said the issue is that he is very much set in his ways and you have nothing to feed off.

Because everyone struggles with him. He's a very flat player, but with all due respect, sometimes he's a top-class player, and it makes it difficult sometimes, but that's the way it is. Sometimes when you play against Gezzy anyone, you get a little bit of aggression in the game. But with him you don't get that. That's something you have to work on, try to stay cool, try to perform towards your own level, don't look to his ability, do your own thing, but that's the way it is.

Then asked about tackling Van Duijvenbode's aggression, he joked that he needs to win a leg first but then praised his compatriot. "Dirk first needs to win a leg for that. No, me and Dirk, we have all these good games. I think he's a fantastic player, his top is really high, so I need to make sure I'm ready for him because I think he's starting to find a bit of form. So you need to make sure you don't make mistakes."

"I think I've got a little bit of an edge over him. He's always trying to improve himself against me or try to do well against me, and that sometimes also works against him."

On his impending ranking drop, Van Gerwen said that he isn't too concerned about it and that it will likely happen anyway so he isn't gazing at the rankings longingly waiting for the inevitible to happen.

"It's not really on my mind, it's just someone reminding me of it. It's just one of them things, isn't it? When you did well two years ago, you have to defend it. That's the way it is. In my peak times I never looked into it, I never do it now as well. It's probably gonna happen anyway."

"Of course, if you win this it will help a lot, but if you just look, I had a poor 18 months. You need to pick up, you need to make sure you get your shoulders underneath it and keep working, and that's the only thing you can do.

But also Van Gerwen admits that in reality, he isn't there to make statements and said he likes embodying James Wade as of late in that. "Winning is, I think, the most important thing. I've learned so much from one player, that's James Wade. He never cared about where he was, average is 10 points lower, do you know what I mean?

"Of course you want to win it in a nice way, of course you want to hit that 110 average, but that's not the way it is. So just move on."