Luke Littler warned the Alexandra Palace crowd to go against him at their peril after beating Ian White at the World Darts Championship.

The Nuke was made to work hard but managed to secure a 4-1 victory, booking a fourth-round meeting with Ryan Joyce. He survived a few scares along the way and it was far from a vintage Littler display, but he did enough to progress.

He enjoyed some fun with the crowd during the match, making the most of the opportunity to answer their White chants with a maximum.

In his post-match interview on Sky Sports, Littler warned the fans in attendance that chanting for his opponent will only spur him on to shut them up.

"It’s what I do," he said. "The crowd were good for both me and Ian, but if they chanting Ian’s name, I’m going to hit a 180."

Littler added that he knew he needed to brush up on his finishing after being made to pay for his mistakes at times.

"I know I have to hit the doubles," he explained. "35 per cent, it’s not going to get me anywhere. I watched Ryan’s game. He was very good. I know what’s gone wrong, obviously the doubles, but most importantly I won.

"Definitely it was tough, Ian threw everything at me. If I hit a 180, he hit back with a 180, so I had to stay switched on. I wouldn’t say nerves, it was just a case of settling in quickly.

"First set was okay, but after the first break I was really up for it. When you are 3-1 up, last break, you have got that feeling you are only three legs away."

Littler roared in delight as he wrapped up the fourth set to secure victory, saying afterwards: "It was massive. I don’t think double 20 and double 10 liked me tonight and I don’t think I like them. I was thinking of switching up but I stuck at the doubles I know."

His victory secured revenge over White, who used to regularly beat his grandfather in the Runcorn pub leagues, by knocking him out of the World Darts Championship.

Only time will tell if Littler can go one better than last year, when he was defeated by Luke Humphries in the final. He remains the favourite to win the tournament and will be hoping to deliver the goods over the coming weeks.