'Humphries man to beat in Premier League finals but Clayton could run riot'

Wayne Mardle is backing Luke Humphries to successfully defend his Premier League Darts title, saying the world No 2 is "the man to beat" after a major upturn in form.

Humphries - an 11-8 winner over Luke Littler in last year's showpiece - spent much of this campaign outside the play-off spots but then reached the final across the last four weeks of the regular season, winning the penultimate evening in Birmingham.