Luke Littler has snapped back at Dennis Priestley after the darts icon criticised the decision to give the reigning world champion an MBE. Littler burst onto the scene two years ago, reaching the final of the World Championship in his debut appearance before being crowned Ally Pally king 12 months later.

But Priestley admitted he was left scratching his head when it was announced Littler and fellow darts ace Luke Humphries were being recognised for their contributions to darts. The ex-pro even went as far as saying the pair were undeserving of their titles, suggesting Littler in particular had been awarded it too soon.

The Nuke hasn't taken well to the comments though, with Littler taking to Instagram to denounce Priestley's comments. He said: "Doesn't deserve an MBE but done more in 12 months than he ever did... that's what I would say anyway." Littler has since deleted the post from his Instagram story.

Priestley was considered one of the best players in the world during his illustrious career and twice won the World Championships, firstly in 1991 under the WDF banner and then again in 1994 at the innaugural WDC event. 'The Menace', a reference to cartoon character Dennis, also won the World Masters title in 1992.

When quizzed on the awarding of the MBEs, Priestley said: “To be brutally honest, I don't think either Luke Littler or Luke Humphries have done enough to earn their MBEs just yet.

"I think in time they could’ve done enough to warrant it but it feels very early, they have both won one World Championship each and are still young in their careers. Littler has been recognised for raising the popularity of darts which is great, but he can still do so much more. If he is getting an MBE this soon then you’d have to think he is on the right path to a knighthood, nothing would surprise me now.”

It comes after Littler and England team-mate were dumped out of the World Cup in their opening game against Germany last weekend. The duo had been tipped to go all the way and claim their first World Cup title together, but instead were said to have remained mostly separate throughout the weekend and didn't practice together.

On their unusual approach to the doubles competition, Priestley added: “Luke Littler and Luke Humphries let their country down at the World Cup of Darts, from what we’ve heard they weren’t sitting together or practising together. When I was playing in pairs with Phil Taylor we practised together and sat together, we played all over the world and I only remember us getting beaten once.”