Gary Wilson worryingly admitted “I don’t know where to go anymore” and feared for his career after a 6-3 defeat to Shaun Murphy at the Masters.

Wilson threatened a comeback when pulling back to 4-3 after losing the first four frames of the contest, before the Magician made a clutch century break and then saw out the final frame.

But Wilson, world No. 16, admitted “my game’s shot” in an emotional interview where he claimed he could not even feel any sort of buzz or adrenaline from playing a Triple Crown event at Alexandra Palace.

“My game's shot, my cue action's shot,” said Wilson to Eurosport. “I feel deep down it's just getting worse. The yips are kicking in left, right, and centre every shot. I don't know where to go anymore. It's worrying.”

Wilson, 39, is a three-time ranking title winner after adding to his two Scottish Open victories at the Welsh Open in February of last year.

He was playing at the Masters for the first time since 2021 when no fans were allowed inside the Milton Keynes Arena owing to Covid. But Wilson still struggled to get up for his match.

"I'm actually getting to the point, worryingly enough, where I'm not even bothered anymore,” Wilson added. “It's actually worrying where I'm going out there not even feeling the buzz and the adrenaline.

"It's a horrible feeling when you're doing it because you know it means something. It didn't feel like it meant anything there. It's been frustrating for quite a while now. I think I'm getting to the end of my tether."

The Tyneside Terror admitted that he has known for years that his game is “on a steady decline” and prompted doubts over how long he will continue to play snooker while in his current mindset.

"There's one side of us that's kicking myself, going 'Come on, kick into gear, try, just do something, you want to win’. But then there's the other side that's going, 'I don't care. I'm not even bothered',” he concluded.

"It's been that bad for that long. My game's shot. My cue action's shot. You're just hoping for things all the time and that's not my mentality. But I think more worryingly is I've known for the last few years that it's on a steady decline.

"I've been getting around it here and there, and showing bits of what I can do, and managing to win three tournaments for goodness’ sake. It's great, but I feel deep down it's just getting worse."