Monaghan darts player Shane McGuirk says his preparations have gone well and he is confident ahead of his WDF World Championship debut at Lakeside on Saturday.
McGuirk will become the first player from the Republic of Ireland to play at Lakeside in a decade when he takes on Scotland's Mark Barilli on Saturday afternoon.
If he gets through that first round tie, he will return to the Lakeside stage on Sunday for a last 16 clash with the 13th seed, Sweden's Edwin Torbjörnsson.
The Arrow has spent a few days this week practising with Fermanagh's experienced PDC star, Brendan Dolan, and says he has picked up a few helpful tips from the History Maker.
He told Darts In Ireland: "My practice and preparations have been going really well and I'm feeling good.
"The practice sessions with Brendan Dolan were great as he has a lot of experience so it was good to tap into that.
"He gave me some tips on how to approach the oche at certain times and some insights of what to do when you're up there on the big stage."
McGuirk recently showed what he can do when he set a record average of 119.29 in his 5-0 win over Belgium's Stefan Henderyck at the PDC Challenge Tour last month.
If he was to reproduce that form at Lakeside, he may well be unbeatable.
While he obviously harbours dreams of going all the way at Lakeside, McGuirk says he is not thinking about anything further than his first round game with Barilli.
"Mark is an experienced player who has played at Lakeside many times so it's going to be a difficult game," he says.
"I just have to concentrate on myself and get my game right. If I do that, I think I have a very good chance of progressing.
"It would be great to get through those first two rounds over the weekend and then if I get to the latter stages, then the other players there may worry about playing me."
McGuirk qualified for the WDF World Championships by winning the Irish Open last year and says he is already a winner by getting this far.
He will have some vocal support in the Lakeside crowd as his partner, brother, aunt and some friends and fellow darts players from Monaghan will be there to cheer him on.
He added: "I'm really looking forward to the experience as the World Championships at Lakeside was the first darts I ever watched on TV and dreamed about as kid to play there one day.
"And now it is actually happening, it is going to be great."
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