ADRIAN LEWIS is targeting victories in his remaining three 888.com Premier League Darts games in his bid to reach next month's play-offs.
The World Champion slipped to sixth in the Premier League table when he suffered an 8-3 loss to Phil Taylor at Birmingham on Thursday night.
He had also lost his previous two matches, against James Wade and Raymond van Barneveld, to slip out of the top four.
However, he is only a point behind fourth-placed Simon Whitlock, with Wade tied on ten points with the Australian going into the final three league games of the season.
Lewis takes on Whitlock at the Echo Arena, Liverpool on Thursday before meetings with Terry Jenkins and Gary Anderson, and is targeting a treble of victories to ensure his semi-final berth.
"Some of the other results went for me [on Thursday] but I've got to play Simon Whitlock next week and that's a massive match for me now if I'm going to make the play-offs," said Lewis.
"If I'd played the way I played against Phil in the previous couple of weeks there's no way I'd have been beaten by James and Raymond.
"I don't think James will qualify because he's got to play Barney and Phil, which is two tough games. I've got Phil out of the way, and Barney too.
"I'm really looking forward to playing Simon next week. I've got to push on now and I can't see me losing any of my last three matches."
Lewis averaged almost 101 against Taylor but was left with few chances by the reigning Premier League champion, who took a heavy 8-3 with with an average of 107.
"Phil didn't miss a thing and played brilliantly," added Lewis. "At 4-1 down I was averaging 119 but Phil took out 139 when I was on a double and another good finish when I was on a double.
"It was probably the best average for the first half of any Premier League match - he averaged 117 or something but it was only 4-2 [at the break].
"For the majority of the match I played well and I know how it feels now to have 180s piled in against me early on - it's what I normally do to other players!"
A small number of tickets for Thursday's 888.com Premier League Darts at the Echo Arena, Liverpool remain on sale via 0844 8000 400 or www.echoarena.com.
888.com Premier League Darts
Week 12
April 28 - Liverpool Echo Arena
Mark Webster v Terry Jenkins
Gary Anderson v Phil Taylor
Raymond van Barneveld v James Wade
Adrian Lewis v Simon Whitlock
Tickets: 0844 8000 400 or www.echoarena.com
Official Partners of the 888.com Premier League Darts
Title Sponsor
Official Travel Partner
Official Mobile Parter
Official Media Partner