Adrian Lewis believes clash with Phil Taylor will help him rediscover his best form

Adrian Lewis: Believes clash with Phil Taylor will bring the best out of him

Adrian Lewis believes Thursday's Premier League clash against Phil Taylor in Aberdeen will help him to rediscover his very best form.

The two-time world champion made a poor start to this year's Premier League campaign last week as he was beaten 7-3 by Simon Whitlock, missing a host of doubles in the process.

But Lewis has a strong record against Stoke rival Taylor in the competition having won three and drawn one of his last five meetings with the 16-time world champ over the past couple of years.

"I'm really looking forward to it and I think it will bring the best out of me," said Lewis. "My record's been good against Phil in the Premier League for the last couple of years and there's no bigger game than playing him.

"You know what to expect with him; you know he'll average over 100, score heavily and hit his doubles, so you know what you have to do to get something out of the game."

After losing on his tournament debut to James Wade, Fleetwood's Wes Newton faces another tough assignment as he takes on Raymond van Barneveld who was an impressive 7-4 winner against Gary Anderson last time out.

"It's going to be a really tough game because Raymond probably played the best out of everyone last week, but there are no easy matches in the Premier League," said Newton.

Practising hard

"I've got to get my head down and hopefully I can go up there and play some good darts. I've been practising hard on my doubles and hopefully I can put it right this week. Maybe I was trying too hard to get off to a good start. I wanted to get off with a win so much but I've got my debut out of the way now and I'll get used to playing each week."

Scottish duo Robert Thornton and Anderson will both be looking for big performances in front of their home crowd, with the former looking to maintain his perfect record having kicked off with a win against Andy Hamilton.

"It was amazing last week and it will be even better in Aberdeen this Thursday," said Thornton, who faces Michael van Gerwen. "When Michael and I play we usually have some cracking games and he's been in fantastic form, so this should be another one. Hopefully I can come out on top!"

Anderson takes on Simon Whitlock, while the final game of the evening sees Wade face off against Hamilton.

"I'm looking forward to being back in Scotland," said Anderson, the 2011 Premier League champion. "It was disappointing to lose last week but it was the first game of the season.

"I played okay against Raymond last week but I'm happy with how my game is going in practice, so hopefully I can take that up on stage this week."