Peter Wright has warned Luke Littler he will only get better ahead of their first-ever meeting at the Premier League next week.
Both players suffered quarter-final defeats in Glasgow on Thursday and will be desperate for points on night four in Newcastle.
Wright lost in the opening match in front of his home crowd, with night three's eventual winner Michael van Gerwen storming to a 6-2 victory.
Littler played Gerwyn Price in the last quarter-final of the evening and lost at that round for the first time, going down in a final-set thriller.
Luke Littler has been sent a warning by Peter Wright ahead of their first meeting
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Wright put in a better display than he had done in his first two appearances of this year's Premier League but is still to pick up a point.
He sits bottom of the table, with Nathan Aspinall also pointless after the first three weeks.
Wright admitted he was 'gutted' to not put on a better show in front of the Glasgow crowd.
He said: "I was just gutted I let them down. Even when I was 5-1 down I thought 'If it clicks' because Michael's not on it.
"I was thinking I could still win this game. I know where my game is and I was just waiting for it to go 'ding' and I was ready.
"But Michael probably would have stepped up as well if I started hitting something."
Wright enjoyed some success on the ProTour earlier this week, reaching the semi-final of the Players Championship 2 before losing to Gary Anderson.
The former two-time world champion still believes he is a long way off his best.
Wright takes on Littler in next Thursday's quarter-final in Newcastle, the first time the pair have ever met in a competitive darts match.
The 53-year-old believes his top form will soon come and is confident he will still finish in the Premier League top four.
He added: "I was nowhere near on the ProTour to be honest, just my finishing got me out of sticky situations on the ProTour.
"But obviously my finishing [on Thursday] wasn't great, it was terrible to be honest.
"But you're not playing in front of 10,000 people on a floor tournament are you?
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Peter Wright is certain he will still finish in the Premier League top four
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"So it's totally different, you're playing in front of your home crowd, you've got that added extra pressure and it's hard to deal with to be honest.
"I felt great going up there, practice was going really good and stuff like that.
"But maybe in a couple of weeks it might start coming out properly in the Premier League. I will finish in the top four, definitely."
Ahead of Thursday's action, Wright admitted Littler's backstage behaviour 'annoys' him.
Littler rarely practices and tends to chill out before he steps onto the oche.
Luke Littler was visibly frustrated as he lost to Gerwyn Price in the Premier League
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Wright said of the 17-year-old: "We need that spark. It's great for all the youngsters what he's doing against the big boys.
"As for him not practising, it does annoy you when he's just sitting on his phone and then is like, 'Oh, do I have to play darts now?!' It reminds me of Dennis Priestley.
"He used to sit and do crosswords and then it was, 'Oh it's time to play, is it?' Then he'd get up and play and smash you.
"Lucky enough, I haven't met Luke yet on the dartboard. That's next week in Newcastle. So I'm looking forward to that one."