Brendan Dolan is hopeful that he can round off his season on a high with a good performance at the PDC World Championships.

The Belcoo thrower goes into the biggest tournament of the season with a world ranking of 45, but he is looking to exceed expectations when he takes to the oche at London’s Alexandra Palace.

“I could see myself having a long run in the world championship this year,” he said.

“I am putting a lot of practice in over this last couple of months and I do believe my form is getting better all the time. I’m looking forward to it. It’s the big tournament of the whole year and it could make the year look a lot better than it has been. It’s about consistency. That is what I am lacking at the minute. I have the quality. It’s just the consistency that is not there for me at the minute, but the way the draw has turned out it’s probably a nice section to be in.”

The draw has pitted him against Chinese opponent Yuanjun Liu, a relative unknown who is ranked at 721 and is making his first appearance in the televised stages of the tournament.

“It’s a lad I don’t know much about,” admitted Dolan. “I saw him play in the Shanghai Masters against Gerwin Price and he definitely can throw darts, but I feel that I am more than capable of taking care of him.”

Dolan lost in the last 64 of last year’s tournament and he has acknowledged that his form of the past few years has dipped, but he is hopeful that his results are on the rise again.

“I have probably dug myself into a hole in the previous two years,” he admitted.

“I haven’t really been at the races but this last year I have been putting extra effort in and I feel performance wise I have been playing a lot better, but just been a bit unlucky with results here and there, which would have made a big difference overall.

"This year I qualified automatically for the World Championship whereas last year I had to go to a qualifier so it hasn’t been the worst year, although not what I am looking for.

“In the Players Championship I was starting to play well again and it was Daryl who turned me over. He played really well to do that. He had eight 180s in nine legs to overtake me which was hard to live with, and to show how well he was playing he went on to win the tournament. You don’t mind losing to someone at the top of their game when you are trying to get back your game and you know there is more in the tank.”

Brendan’s opportunity to prove he is throwing well comes on Sunday December 16 when he plays his first round match in the afternoon session. If he gets through that encounter he will face 14th seed Joe Cullen on Wednesday December 19.