MICHAEL SMITH blasted that Luke Littler won’t give a c**p about facing him in the Premier League semi-finals.
The 2023 world champ has the best record against the teen sensation of any elite player, with five wins in seven clashes this year.
But Smith, 33, has dismissed any talk he has an edge over the 17-year-old ahead of their crunch last four battle at the O2 next week as they bid for the £275,000 title jackpot.
After winning the final league night in Sheffield, ‘Bully Boy’ also revealed there is ANGER with other players towards Littler.
Smith insists that the youngster won’t be worried about facing him, saying: “I doubt it. The kid is unreal so I doubt it.
“He proved it going to the Worlds, Bahrain, the two Europeans and ProTour. He won’t think anything else.
“He’s 17. I don’t want to swear but he won’t give a c**p. He has no care in the world. It’s us that’s thinking about it trying to punish him.
“I think I say in every interview. It doesn’t matter who I’ve beaten the week before, or seven times before, it’s what happens next week.
“I know Littler will be thinking the same and I’ll be thinking the same. I won’t be thinking about five night wins against him, it’ll be about beating him in the semi-finals.
“We are no different, I just have one star. That’s it. He’s probably got better ability than me. He doesn’t have a better throw than me, I think I’ve got the best throw.
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“But everything else, his head, everything. He’s such a nice kid but hopefully that nice kid goes out the window next week.
“He’s amazing, pushing the PDC even further and all the boys. There’s a few getting upset with it but listen my pockets get full every time he gets mentioned!
“We look after him, he’s a really nice kid.”
Smith opened up on the anger in the ranks from other players believing that Littler shouldn’t have been picked for the Premier League and other opportunities he’s been given by the PDC.
He continued: “I think they are getting annoyed. I had it last year, Littler is getting it all now.
“I don’t think they are happy that he’s getting everything. I’m not bothered.
“The players at 70 in the world shouldn’t be bothered because this young kid at the minute is one of the best players in the world.
“The people at 70, 80, 90 all they should think about is that their money is going to keep going up and up and up. The more this kid is playing, we get better sponsors, hopefully Eddie (Hearn) puts the prize money up again, £1,000 to £1,500 on the ProTour.
“Just because of Littler we’ve gone from being wherever we were in the ratings to only now the Premier League football in the UK is out rating us. Just because of that kid.
“I thought it would have been because of my nine-darter in the world final. I’m not gutted because I know for a fact I’ve still got 14, 15, 16 years left.
“My money is just going to keep going up because some kid is doing it for me.
“I’m not annoyed and the other players shouldn’t either. The kid is doing nothing wrong.
“If you go back to the 2008 world final John Part v Kirk Shepherd, Kirk was the only world finalist to not get in the Premier League.
“He wasn’t Luke. People are annoyed that he got in and I can say there’s a couple of the boys in the top 16 who are annoyed. But he is going to pocket us so much money.
“It was the same a few years ago when Fallon beat Ted and Mensur in the world championships. She did the same thing.
“People were annoyed that she got World Series. But you have to look at the bigger picture. The bigger picture is that darts is growing.
“If you stick around and you are good enough to stay in the top 32, they are making it grow.
“As long as the sport is growing, who cares?”
LUKE LITTLER has taken the darts world by storm since exploding onto the scene at the PDC World Championship.
The Nuke reached the final on his Ally Pally debut at just 16 years of age – smashing records along the way.
He has since joined Jude Bellingham on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list.
And the teenage titan even had to snub an invite from the WWE.
The Sun exclusively revealed that Littler is plotting to create a fitness empire.
He is also cashing in away from the Oche thanks to an Instagram side hustle.
And he’s even the face of a brand new cereal.
Check out all of our Luke Littler stories here.
