John Henderson says the underdog successes of Fallon Sherrock have given him the belief he can win the PDC World Championship.
The Highlander takes on third seed Gerwyn Price at Alexandra Palace in round three tonight.
Being the 30th seed, the Huntly thrower is the underdog, but he believes he can progress to the last-16 this evening and potentially go all the way in the tournament.
Henderson has taken inspiration from Sherrock, who has become the first woman to win a match at the PDC World Championship.
She beat Ted Evetts 3-2 in round one and Mensur Suljovic 3-1 in the second round and plays Chris Dobey this afternoon in the last-32.
Already in this year’s tournament seeds like Rob Cross, Michael Smith, Ian White, James Wade and Joe Cullen have made early exits, and Henderson hopes to send another tumbling tonight.
He said: “It has been inspiring to see what Fallon has done and it seems this year is the year of the underdog.
“A lot of the top seeds have dropped out and Peter Wright and Gerwyn were both in tight matches to get through.
“Gary Anderson and Michael van Gerwen have progressed comfortably, but the tournament is really open.
“I’m playing Gerwyn, which is a tough game, but if I can get through I could be lifting that trophy on New Year’s Day.
“You never know what could happen because the tournament is so open.
“I’ve beaten plenty of top players on TV. I’ve beaten Michael van Gerwen, Daryl Gurney, Raymond Van Barneveld and others on the TV stage.
“So I know I am capable of beating Gerwyn, it’s all about on the night.
“Gerwyn was lucky to get past William O’Connor because if William hadn’t miscounted in the fifth leg of the last set I could have been playing him.
“Everyone is there to be beat – against the top players you don’t get many chances so you have to take them when you get them.
“But I’m playing well and I’m practising well so on the night if the doubles go in I’ve got a good chance.”
It is expected most of the 4,000 supporters inside Ally Pally tonight will be backing Henderson.
Price has become a player many fans love to hate and has regularly been booed on stage. Although Henderson will be happy to have the crowd on his side, he hopes his opponent isn’t jeered.
He added: “The crowd being with me would be good, but I think Gerwyn likes being the bad boy.
“I do hate the crowd booing, I can’t be doing with it. Sometimes players bring things on themselves, but we’re up there to do a job and nobody deserves to be booed and hopefully Gerwyn isn’t.”
