Luke Humphries has called on people to get off his and Luke Littler's backs whenever they lose a darts match.
The world No 1 and new world champion has opened up on the pressures he and his teenage rival are facing following their rise to stardom.
Humphries beat Littler in the World Darts Championship final in early January in a match watched by a record TV audience.
Littler's run to the final at Alexandra Palace aged just 16 grabbed the attention of the nation and took darts to a new level.
Luke Littler has been defended by Luke Humphries after his Premier League loss
Getty
The 'Nuke', now 17, has proven since that his performances at Ally Pally were not a one-off, winning the Bahrain Masters and the Players Championship 1.
Littler has hit two nine-darters in 2024 so far and has had an impressive start to his debut Premier League campaign.
Humphries has not been in the best run of form since lifting the Sid Waddell trophy but was the sport's star player in the second half of 2023.
He won his first major at the World Grand Prix last October before triumphing at the Grand Slam of Darts just a month later.
Humphries struggled at the Players Championship this week, including being whitewashed by Ian White on Monday.
However, he bounced back with two victories on night three of the Premier League in Glasgow on Thursday, before losing to Michael van Gerwen in the final.
The 29-year-old admitted he wanted to prove some of his critics wrong this week.
Humphries said: "I was written off and called the worst world champion, so I just wanted to come out and play well in Glasgow.
"In the end, I was quite unlucky not to win and I’m proud of how I played.
"I’m not really that frustrated about what happened on Monday. I’m disappointed to lose, but you can’t win every game you play."
If Humphries didn't know the pressures of being a world champion before, then he certainly does now.
The spotlight has been on him and Littler since the turn of the year, with the pair already facing each other three times since the World Championship final.
Littler has won all three of those matches, including twice in the opening two weeks of the Premier League.
But the teen didn't have it all his way this week in Glasgow, losing in the quarter-final for the first time against Gerwyn Price.
Littler was visibly angry after the defeat and was questioned by fans and pundits for attempting an audacious finish in the final leg.
LATEST SPORTS NEWS:
Luke Humphries has called on fans to get off his and Luke Littler's backs
Getty
Humphries has noticed the negative attention he and Littler have received, claiming 'everyone is against you' when you lose a match.
He has called for that to change, adding: "I understand the pressures of being world champion but every game you lose, like the Ian White game on Monday, can happen. No excuses, I got fairly beaten.
"But when everybody gets on your back, it can become tiresome. I probably over-achieved at the back end of last year - no one expected it, so it would be nice if people stayed off my back a little bit.
"It’s not just me - Luke [Littler] gets so much pressure as well and it’s tough when you are relatively new to it.
Luke Littler and Luke Humphries have had mixed starts to 2024
Getty
"I don’t feel the target on my back, but every time you lose a game, suddenly everyone is against you and everyone thinks you are going to fall by the wayside.
"You can’t always play well - I’ve played a lot of darts in the past four or five months and there have been a lot of ups and not many downs.
"I’m still learning that, with my status as world champion, comes a lot of pressure but I’m learning to handle it."
