Phil Taylor makes Luke Littler prediction and says 'other players are getting the hump'

Phil Taylor believes have got their names on the World Cup already - and England will be unbeatable when they defend the trophy next month. The ‘Power’ and Adrian Lewis won the tournament four times in five years between 2012-16, and and are favourites to win it a sixth time for England in Frankfurt from June 12-15.

Taylor, the 16-times and undisputed GOAT of darts, is so convinced Littler and Humphries will fly the flag again that they might as well start inscribing their names on the plinth now. He said: “Luke and Luke – there’s the winners of the World Cup. I am telling you now, put your money on them.

"They won’t get beat, that pair. I don’t mind talking about Littler, I’m really proud of him, like I was when Aidy won.

"It’s nice to see different faces with a winner’s smile. Also, you have other players now getting the hump - they are practising like mad trying to improve.”

Humphries and Littler go into the tournament ranked as the top two in the Professional Darts Corporation rankings. England traditionally select their two highest-ranked players in the order of merit, and Littler was still climbing the charts 12 months ago, when .

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For all his success as an individual on the oche, Taylor has always reserved a special pride for pulling on the England shirt and representing his country. He said: “That was always the plan when I first played – to wear the England shirt. I used to keep setting targets. I wanted to play for my county, I got into the county side.

“Then I wanted to play for England. Then you want to play for the four-man squad in England under the old BDO (British Darts Organisation) system, which was me, John Lowe, Bob Anderson and Eric Bristow. It was brilliant to put the red trousers on, and the red-and-white shirt was great.”

‘Jackpot’ Lewis, who began his professional career as Taylor’s protege but blossomed into a two-time champion in his own right, revealed the Power used to give him rollickings backstage if he performed poorly at the World Cup. Taylor always gave the impression that the tournament was a release from the relentless carousel of the pro circuit, but Lewis revealed he was not allowed to let his standards drop.

He said: “Littler and Humphries? That will be some pairing - I would be very surprised if they got beat. The difference between the two Lukes and us is that they will probably egg each other on whereas me and Phil, if I played c**p, he told me about it!

“Oh, God - I was awful in one of the games…yes, we did win, but I lost to somebody from Japan, I cannot remember his name. I was absolutely terrible. I lost 4-3. I had the biggest rollocking then backstage. It happened loads of times, even in the doubles. If I hadn’t set him up right or put him on an easier finish, I soon knew all about it.

"You have to raise your game at the World Cup. When you put the England top on, it isn’t like anything else. You are not playing for yourself, you are playing for your teammates and the nation as well. It is a completely different ball game.”

Lewis, who took an indefinite break from darts two years ago, holds a unique place in the history books - as the only active PDC world champion Littler has never beaten in competition. He laughed: “I’m retiring. That’s it, I am retiring. He is not beating me!”