Friday 9 March 2018 17:30, UK
Michael van Gerwen admits he is lacking “power” and is not in “the best form” despite shooting to the top of the Premier League Darts table.
Defending champion Van Gerwen beat Simon Whitlock 7-4 on Thursday in Leeds and took advantage of previous table-topper Michael Smith losing to Rob Cross.
"It wasn't my best performance. I'm playing OK but I'm not in the best form of my life at the moment," Van Gerwen said.
A bit of power has to come back. I have to work really hard for that.
"A bit of power has to come back. I have to work really hard for that.
"I won my game against Simon - I missed too many chances, my scoring at some points wasn't great.
"Sometimes you need to show character. That's exactly what I did - I won this game of character."
Van Gerwen suffered a shock defeat to Jeffrey de Zwaan at last weekend's UK Open and wasn't satisfied by rebounding with a win on the Premier League stage.
"I still threw a 100 average. A lot of people would be happy with that but I'm not," he said. "I want to go back to the 105, 106, 107 averages.
"I can do a lot better. Even though I won, which is nice, there is a lot of work to do."
The 2018 Premier League heads to the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham next Thursday with coverage underway from 7pm on Sky Sports Action & Sky Sports Main Event. Nine weeks of tungsten action will then continue through to the season's conclusion with the Play-Offs on May 17 at The O2 in London.
Keep up to date with the latest darts news, previews, reports, reaction and expert analysis. Get all the latest at www.skysports.com/darts and join in the conversation @SkySportsDarts- don't forget to use #LoveTheDarts
