Darts star Peter Wright insists he’s not afraid of Michael van Gerwen – despite losing TEN finals against him

PETER WRIGHT is not afraid of Michael van Gerwen — despite losing TEN TV finals against him.

Ahead of Wednesday’s £500,000 PDC World Darts final, Snakebite said: “Why are people scared of him?

“He has been playing rubbish! I’m not worried about how many titles he’s won, I’m more worried about how many I’ve lost.”

Wright was beaten 7-4 in the 2014 final by Dutch world No 1 Van Gerwen, 30.

But he said: “This is a totally different game. He’s going to have to play well to beat me because I’ve got the game and I’ve got the focus.”

Wright says several pros have told him to toughen up on stage. And the No 7 seed claims that inspired his semi-final win over Gerwyn Price.

He said: “Peter Evison sends me the odd text saying, ‘You’ve got to be more ruthless’.

“And I got one from Raymond van Barneveld on the morning of the semi-final.

“He told me, ‘No more Mr Nice Guy’. And he was right — I ended up being Not Mr Nice Guy.

“Maybe I have been too nice in the past.”