Darts star Nathan Aspinall has told Luke Littler he's eager to 'smash' and 'batter' the youngster when they lock horns on Thursday night.
Aspinall has been in fine form in the Premier League so far, with the 32-year-old recently winning night five in Exeter.
The darts star started the tournament slowly, failing to win a match during the first three rounds of action.
But he's since responded by rediscovering his best form.
Luke Littler has been fired a warning by Nathan Aspinall ahead of their Premier League clash this week
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And Aspinall, speaking to SportsBoom.com, has now warned Littler that he wants to 'smash' and 'batter' his young opponent.
His comments were made in jest, however, with the 32-year-old praising Littler for the impact he's had on the sport.
"Forget how good Luke is at darts, the sport is now global because of him," he said.
"Rest assured I’m going to smash him in Brighton.
"I keep telling Luke, the next time we meet on that stage, I’m going to batter him.
"He also knows what I can do. We train together regularly, and he’s never beaten me in practice.
"He hit that fantastic nine against me in Bahrain, but it’ll be a different story in Brighton.
"I’ve gone back-to-back finals and won in Exeter. I’m full of confidence and you can see that with how I’m playing.
"I want to be here; I want to be playing the big players every week."
Littler is also yet to win a night of action in the Premier League.
He has, however, impressed by picking up nine points in the competition so far.
Littler, as things stand, is on course for a fourth-placed finish as a result.
The teenager is second in the standings and is on the same total of nine points as Rob Cross, while being one clear of Aspinall.
Former darts star Colin Lloyd, meanwhile, has responded after recent controversy surrounding Littler at the UK Open.
The youngster was criticised by fans online for his behaviour after losing to Damon Heta in the quarter-finals of the competition.
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Darts star Nathan Aspinall is determined to 'smash' and 'batter' Luke Littler on Thursday night
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Littler seemed to turn his back on Heta in the immediate aftermath of the result.
Yet Lloyd thinks the teenager is 'in control of his emotions' and has hailed the way he conducts himself.
Speaking on the Love the Darts podcast, the 2002 World Championship semi-finalist said: "The nice thing about Luke Littler, he may only be 17 years old, he's so in control of his emotions.
"I don't think he's putting the pressure on himself to say 'I've got to do this, I've got to do that'.
"He turns up, he puts in fantastic performances, and if those performances are good enough, he gets results.
Luke Littler has impressed by securing nine Premier League points ahead of his showdown with Nathan Aspinall
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"It was interesting to see that after all the damage that he's done, he's now using a new set of darts, a different set of darts.
"It's not doing him any harm, he's still pulling out shots from everywhere."
