Wright May Have to Change Walk-on Routine

Peter Wright might have to put his dancing routine on hold as his trouble ankle continues to be weak. The World Champion finally got a win on the board last week in the Unibet Premier League before facing Gerwyn Price in Dublin tonight. But Snakebite, 49, is still suffering from an ankle injury sustained while lifting his wife Jo’s luggage out of the car. He twisted the ankle again while dancing on stage a fortnight ago and will now have to watch his step! He admitted: “The ankle is all strapped up. It’s still weak. It’s my fault for breaking it when I was a youngster. I thought I was alright. I got to the finals of the Vauxhall Open Singles I think it was with a broken ankle. “I was told then if it hasn’t healed properly and I bend it I’ll have to have plates and screws in it for six months or whatever. “So I ended up cutting off the cast in the bath and I fell straight out the bath. As soon as I put pressure on it, it was no good! “It’s never been good since. When it comes to cold weather it plays up a lot.” Wright will take on Price at the 3Arena, a repeat of their epic World Championship semi-final at the Ally Pally in late December. But the Scot knows he has to take the league more seriously, adding: “This tournament is very hard. I was sitting in my hotel room last week having my hair done and I was looking out the window watching all the clouds just floating away and stuff. “I was thinking to myself I have to take this tournament serious. Just go up there and enjoy the amazing crowds and venues. “I get up there and play darts but you’ve got to go up and try and imagine this is to win the Premier League, not to try and get a point or a win. “That’s the way I approached it last week and why I started off well against Rob Cross and then just fell asleep! “I was waiting for Rob last week and I shouldn’t be. That’s happened with me with Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson in the past, waiting for those players to turn up. “You shouldn’t do that, you should just try and blitz them off the board, they wouldn’t wait for you. “I’m gutted I didn’t start the league well. I was disappointed I didn’t hit the doubles against Michael and that’s given him the confidence he has now. “If I stepped on him and hit doubles he wouldn’t have confidence, but that’s darts. But I want to see MVG at his best so I can beat him at his best later on in the final. “I should have been 5-0 up in that game but I didn’t do that, it doesn’t matter then. It matters in the finals. “I’m nowhere near my best at the moment. When I start playing properly, the least average I should be hitting is 108. So loads more to come.” 2020 Unibet Premier League Night Four Thursday February 27 3Arena, Dublin Glen Durrant v Nathan Aspinall Rob Cross v Gary Anderson Daryl Gurney v Michael Smith William O'Connor v Michael van Gerwen Gerwyn Price v Peter Wright