"You've had your day old man, we're the new blood": Colin Lloyd says never write off Michael van Gerwen but new stars coming for his crown

Colin Lloyd had a local exhibition for once last weekend when he played at Brentwood for MODUS and ahead of the World Matchplay in which he works as a spotter and commentator at times for Sky Sports, he is buzzing for a tournament he won multiple times.

Lloyd though won't be returning to the sport in the World Seniors with it being spoken about by fans discussing who they'd want to join the format. He says that he would get too despondent if he doesn't meet his expectations and while he's been asked and never says never, it is not something he wants right now.

"I'm very fortunate that I don't compete on no tours now. Jason Thame from MODUS keeps asking me every time I see him about going onto the Seniors. But at this moment in time, it's not me. The Matchplay's coming up and I'm looking forward to it," said Lloyd to Online Darts.

"It's getting down to the nitty gritty now as from the World Matchplay onwards there's not really any breathing space. There's breathing space for the players that aren't involved on the World Series, but all of a sudden you go World Grand Prix, Grand Slam, European and World's. Euro Tours and ProTours in between. The guys that have possibly struggled the last six months, they've got to try and have a great end to the year."

"I'm going to say this. I know I'm still good enough. But the days of consistency, am I consistent enough? I don't think I am. Do I want to go down the route of practicing, practicing, practicing. I don't know. I'm not going to say no and I'll never say never. But at the moment I've got my own things going on."

"I love the environment. It's just the expectations that I would put on myself. If I don't meet them expectations, I'll get despondent. My attitude could become despondent towards the fans and I would never want to do that."

With some blockbuster draws at the World Matchplay, there are a lot of talking points and for Lloyd, it isn't just Littler v MVG and Anderson v Smith that catch the eye.

"There's been some first rounds over the years. Gezzy's playing Daryl Gurney on the opening night. Obviously we're licking our lips at Littler v MVG. Who's going to be thinking about it the most. It's a major, every round is tough. I just can't wait to get up there."

"There's going to be shocks, there's shocks every year. For me, it's the biggest title I've ever won. It's the second biggest ranking title behind the World Championship. Nathan Aspinall is defending champion and he's on opening night and it's going to be tough for him. There's nothing better than going back as defending champion but you've still got to put in the hard work to defend the title."

Michael van Gerwen only holds one title and not a ranking one at the moment and Lloyd spoke about his demise of sorts and said that while he never writes him off, he sees other players coming for his crown.

"I was until I look at the way he played at the World Cup. People might look at this and say well he lost first round with Danny Noppert. His attitude in that match and the way he approached the match and the way he threw, he looked decent."

"You don't and can't write him off. He's that good. Saying that he's been around a long while. You get battle worn. I'm not going to say we've seen his better days because Michael loves proving the form books wrong. Do I think Michael has got majors left in him? Yes I do as he's got that bloody mindedness about him. He's stubborn. When he's on it, he is so so good. Time will tell. Will Michael be crowned Matchplay champion? Why not. But there's plenty of other opponents that are put in front of him as they did with me, you've had your day old man. We're the new blood."

Also asked about Luke Littler and his effect, he also holds the view that Luke Humphries doesn't get enough credit for what he's done.

"He is a breath of fresh air of darts. Can he achieve what MVG, Taylor, Lowe, Bristow, Jocky Wilson has? Only time will tell. But in saying that, I'm not going to say about the Luke Littler effect. Let's look at the Luke Humphries effect. That boy is absolutely class.

"I've got the upmost of respect for Humphries. Not just World No.1 and World Champion, he's World Grand Prix, Grand Slam, Players Champion. Unbelievable. When you've got the likes of those two, the game's in a great place. Then you've got the likes of Aspinall, Price, Cross, Bunting, Barney's on the comeback trail. Josh Rock let's not forget about Josh Rock. I'm very fortunate I'm behind the camera, I'm looking in and it's an absolute joy. The sport I've loved over the years, I get to work on it and I get to see the game evolve even more."