Luke Littler hit out at the crowd inside Alexandra Palace after his emphatic 4-2 win over Rob Cross on Monday evening. The ‘Nuke’ was pitted off against the 35-year-old in the fourth round of the PDC World Championship, with the crowd sharing their allegiance towards ‘Voltage’ in part.

Despite belting out a rendition of “Walking in a Littler Wonderland,” early doors, fans inside the iconic venue then began roaring Cross’ name in unison. In playful fashion, Little had a bit of a dance as he faced the onlookers, waving his fingers as if to orchestrate the chorus and showing that he wasn’t phased one bit. That was proven as Littler stole the first set from his long-time rival, cupping his ears in celebration with a stern look plastered across his face.

And after securing his victory over Cross in dramatic fashion, the 18-year-old made his feelings clear toward the crowd who were seemingly against him inside the historic venue. He said: “I’m not bothered. Really, I’m not bothered.

“I’m really not bothered. Can I just say one thing? You guys pay for tickets that you’re paying for my prize money, so thank you: thank you for my money. Thank you for booing me. Thank you. COME ON!”

On the match, he added: “I just had to hold. Rob broke me, I had to break Rob back. I just had to hold my own. As soon as Rob set up, I think he set up 342, and then I’ve hit the 180 to leave the 164, I knew: If Rob hit a 180 he’s on 162. So then I know I’m guaranteed six darts at it.

“And then he left 198 at the end or something. I knew I had another six at 68. So there was not much pressure. I just seen the stats then, I weren’t even thinking of anything, I just wanted to win the game. Like you say, it’s hostile: no-one wanted me to win but yet again I’ve proved them wrong.”

He continued: “[The title] It’s not in reach just yet. You’ve got to get to the final and obviously [Krzysztof] Ratajski or Luke Woodhouse next. But yeah, I’ll enjoy two days off and I’ll be back on New Year’s Day.

“[How will I be spending New Years?] Just the same as the past two years. I’ve spent New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in London. We’re doing it again, through to the quarter-finals for the third time in a row.”

Wayne Mardle was also quick to highlight Littler’s behaviour in the aftermath of the match. Speaking on Sky Sports, the legend of the game said: “He was being annoyed and kind of angered through that game. And look, this is when winning…this is how the emotion comes out.

“Just incredible. We’ve not really seen that from him, we know he’s got something in him that’s like, ‘I want to, kind of, keep them quiet.’ He’s said this at Grand Slams before, he wants to shut the crowd up. But you don’t want them against you; you never, ever want them against you because it can be a long and lonely road – just ask Gerwyn Price about that, he wants to turn it around.”

As a result of his win, defending champion Littler is now set to face either Luke Woodhouse or Krysztof Ratajski in the quarter-finals of the PDC World Championship.