Ireland’s World Cup stars have already started the mind games with England duo Luke Littler and Luke Humphries. The two Lukes, who are the strong favourites to win the competition, have been warned that their ‘egos’ could present an obstacle in their quest for international glory in Germany.

Willie O'Connor and Keane Barry defeated Gibraltar 4-2 in their first group match. They face China in their second match and could face England later in the competition. As the top seed, the England team of Littler and Humphries have been given a bye to the second round. In a fiery riposte to the idea that England are ‘unbeatable’, O’Connor has questioned the mentality of both players and believes their ‘egos’ could get in the way of their success.

“It's not singles, we'll see how egos go. If egos go against you, then you never know how that doubles will go. [I] don't know how those pairs will gel, they might not gel together,” O’Connor said. “Yes, they have the potential to just whitewash everyone in their way. But also, they have the potential to fall apart. So we'll see, you don't know until it happens.”

Barry was more diplomatic but denied that Littler and Humphries would have an easy ride to glory. Ireland believe they can beat England if they come up against the top two-ranked players in the world.

“No, I don't really look into it,” Barry insisted. “Obviously, they're the team to beat, yeah. But again, everyone is beatable and you just have to go up there and be the best team on the day. They are the team to beat, but you just have to concentrate on what you're doing.

“It doesn't matter what form anyone is in. On the day, anything can happen. We know we're playing well enough together and we'll just see what happens.”

England are the reigning champions, although Littler has now replaced Michael Smith, who partnered Humphries last year. The World Cup features each nation’s two best-ranked players pairing up, with Littler climbing to No. 2 after the World Darts Championship earlier this year.

There were concerns that Littler would skip the tournament over his recent difficult relationship with German crowds. Earlier this year, the teenager accused German supporters of disliking him due to him being English.

But he said ahead of the World Cup: "The only bad one last year was Hildesheim against Peter Wright. I think I was 5-2 up, lost 8-5 and as soon as you're beating the home favourite, as everyone likes to call it, that is when they don't start to like you. I wouldn't say it's upset me but I would say I was obviously a bit angry. I did what Gerwyn Price always does - go on Instagram, have a bit of a moan and take it down half an hour later."