A focused Stephen Bunting admits Thursday night’s Premier League Darts in Liverpool will be emotional after a decade of waiting, but says, “I want to win, not cry.”

The 40-year-old, who was last a permanent fixture of a Premier League Darts campaign in 2015, says his heavy defeat to Phil Taylor on that occasion, in addition to his emotions earlier this season, have taught him a lot ahead of a “dream” return.

“I’m really excited, probably 10 years in the making. When Phil Taylor beat me here all those years ago, I always dreamt of coming back,” Bunting told media on Wednesday.

“I played a challenger game [vs Rob Cross in 2020], but I wanted to be part of the Premier League proper again. It’s been a lot of hard work, but I’m back here and I’m really looking forward to it.

“As soon as the Premier League was announced, and I was in, I was then looking for the fixture straight away for Liverpool. That was the massive one.

“From my experience 10 years ago, I took a lot away from that.

“Playing Phil Taylor on the biggest stage in my career at the time in Liverpool was a massive game for me, and I definitely put too much pressure on myself. I remember the night being so nervous and the result didn’t go my way. In fact, I got absolutely hammered. I’ve learnt a lot.

“The first eight weeks of the Premier League taught me you can’t be complacent. You can’t miss doubles. There’s no wriggle room, so I need to be on the best of my game regardless of where I play and just try and keep the emotions in check.

“The first four weeks of the Premier League, you could see how emotional I was on the walk-on.

“10 years ago, playing in the Premier League, I was coming on to Bird is the Word. It wasn’t a song that really meant anything to me. Now I’m coming on to Titanium, with nothing to lose, bulletproof, all the taglines. It’s my son’s favourite song. It’s a lot more of an emotional song attached with me, and that’s why you see the emotion.”

A torrid start to his Premier League season saw Bunting rooted to the bottom of the table after eight nights in succession of quarter-final defeats.

Yet, look past the results and Bunting has averaged over 100 in five defeats, and has since gone on to taste a night victory in Berlin, while also progressing to another final in Rotterdam last week, beating Michael van Gerwen and Luke Littler en route before defeat to Chris Dobey.

In terms of his mindset ahead of Thursday, Bunting says he has purposely looked to take all the angst away.

“I’ve taken all the pressure off myself. I did that a few weeks ago, and you’ve seen the performances I’ve had over this season.

“I’ve played a really good Premier League to be honest, although points don’t show that. I think performances do. My aim is to make sure I’m 100 per cent going into next year’s Premier League as well, because I want to be picked for that.

“I’m world No 4 at the minute, and I’m going to take it in my stride this year, getting used to that format again and playing in front of the tens of thousands. I’m just really enjoying it.

“If it does happen to turn around and I start winning nights and push myself into the playoffs, then all well and good and that’s what I’m trying to do, but I’m definitely not putting myself under any pressure.”

On the emotional side of things, Bunting says his focus is on victory in favour of tears.

“I’m just trying not to think about it. It’s an event. The hypnotherapy I’ve been doing over the last few years has really helped towards that.

“I’m a lot calmer and more collected now than I have been. The emotion you’re seeing from the first four or five weeks was just literally being new to the Premier League again.

“It is going to be an emotional night, don’t get me wrong. I’ve got friends and family who are going to be there, but I’ve got to play that. I’ve got to make sure I turn up and be the best I can be.

“I want to win in Liverpool, I don’t want to be crying. Definitely not. I’ll be very strong tomorrow. I’ll make sure I do everything right.

“When I get up on that stage, I’ll sing Titanium as loud as I can to the Liverpool crowd and hopefully they can get behind me all night. I’ve always dreamed of being in the top four of the PDC. I’ve known for a long time how good I can be. The will to win has never been stronger.

“Every time I lose, I learn. That’s important.”

‘Home crowd can go one of two ways for Bunting – we could see him cry before a dart is thrown’

Speaking on the latest episode of the Love the Darts Sky Sports Podcast, Laura Turner said: “It can go one of two ways. You saw Nathan Aspinall in Manchester picking up that title, absolutely feeding off the crowd and completely buzzing.

“But then you hear the likes of Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price, in front of their home crowds they were quite nervous and it went the other way for them.

“Bunting has mentioned he has been very emotional, especially at the start and it took him a while to settle in. So he just needs to keep those emotions in check, because they could possibly overwhelm him, especially in front of a Liverpool crowd.”

Commentator Chris Murphy added on Love the Darts: “Liverpool are going to be Premier League champions, aren’t they? So imagine the audience in there. Stephen Bunting is a big fan as well so I think it will be a special night and we will see him crying before a dart is thrown.”

Where does the Premier League head next?

Night 12 of Premier League Darts comes your way from Liverpool on Thursday April 24, live on Sky Sports+ and Sky Sports Main Event from 7pm, with quarter-finals including Michael van Gerwen vs Luke Littler and Luke Humphries vs Nathan Aspinall.

Full quarter-final line-up for Night 12

• Luke Humphries vs Nathan Aspinall
• Michael van Gerwen vs Luke Littler
• Rob Cross vs Stephen Bunting
• Gerwyn Price vs Chris Dobey

Watch Night 12 of Premier League Darts, in Liverpool, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports+ from 7pm – stream with NOW.

Sky Sports is once again be the home of the Premier League in 2025, with every night exclusively live along with the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts and more!