Luke Littler is now winning darts matches even when he is not playing at his best, according to commentator Dan Dawson.
Dawson says the teenager has made a 'real statement' to his rivals that he can afford to be below his usual level and still come out on top.
Littler won his second Premier League night in a row on Thursday against his home fans in Manchester to propel him to the top of the table.
He beat Michael van Gerwen and Nathan Aspinall before dispatching 2021 world champion Gerwyn Price in the final.
Luke Littler won when he wasn't at his best in the Premier League on Thursday
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Littler has arguably been the most exciting player to watch so far this season, entertaining the crowd even in defeat.
However, he has now been able to put the points on the board to give him a big chance of qualifying for the playoffs.
Dawson says Littler was nowhere near his best on Thursday, especially in the quarter-final against Van Gerwen.
But he paid tribute to the youngster for doing what was needed to get over the line.
Dawson said on the Love The Darts podcast: "I don't want to be contrarian, but I don't think he [Littler] was that good tonight.
"Van Gerwen was poor. Neither of them were that good in that game, Littler was just a bit better. And I don't think he was that brilliant against Aspinall - he was beatable.
"Look, he has thrown some good stuff at points tonight and he has won, but he's played better than this on a number of nights and come away with a semi-final defeat or whatever.
"A lot of things are going this young man's way, and we already know his quality.
"He's amazing, absolutely brilliant, and he's now winning things when he's not playing his best.
"Being top of the Premier League after this many weeks is a real statement of intent.
"He's going to be at the O2 [for the play-offs], I'm pretty sure of that, though I'm not sure Michael van Gerwen is going to be at this rate."
Van Gerwen has now picked up just two points in the last six weeks of the Premier League.
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Luke Littler won his second Premier League night in a row
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He has dropped down to fourth place and Dawson is bemused at the Dutchman's lack of form.
He added: "I don't really know what's going on or where he's at. He was doing things in that game with Littler that I don't really understand.
"You expect MVG to come good, and he did in this Premier League by winning three weeks on the trot, but he has been poor since then.
"If you look at the last two years in the Premier League, his second half of each campaign has not been good.
Luke Littler now sits top of the Premier League table after night 10
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"He only won four games in the last seven weeks last year and he only won six in seven the year before. He dropped down the league.
"It's Rob Cross and Michael Smith that are closer to that top four, and right now it's Van Gerwen sat on the precipice.
"Luke Humphries is playing brilliantly, Littler is playing brilliantly and Nathan Aspinall has leapfrogged him.
"He is in danger. If he doesn't buck his ideas up, he might miss out on the play-offs - which has happened before but is a rarity."
