MARK WEBSTER is bidding to make the most of his late inclusion in the partypoker.net European Championship this weekend.
The Welsh ace replaced Gary Anderson in the field for the £200,000 event when the Scot withdrew through illness on Wednesday.
Webster will take on James Wade in the first round as the European Championship kicks off on Thursday night in Muelheim, Germany.
And, having dropped to 21st in the PDC Order of Merit and initially missed out on qualification through the ProTour Order of Merit for the event, Webster is now hoping to make the most of a "bonus" tournament.
"It's very unfortunate for Gary to have to miss out," said Webster, who had joined the PDC circuit alongside Anderson in 2009.
"Obviously I would like to have been there in normal circumstances, having qualified either by being in the top 16 or through the Pro Tour, but this is a bonus for me and I will go to Germany with absolutley nothing to lose.
"Maybe that means I will play with a bit more freedom as there is a lot less pressure on me, as I wasn’t expecting to be in the tournament.
"Having said that, I know the enormity of the task when I face one of the best players in the world on Thursday so we'll see how it goes."
Webster's game with world number four Wade will be Thursday's final first round match of eight games being played at the RWE Sporthalle, with the first round continuing on Friday evening.
The second round will be played across two sessions on Saturday, with the quarter-finals on Sunday afternoon and and the semi-finals and final on Sunday evening.
The tournament is being screened live in its entirety in the UK & Ireland online through www.LIVEPDC.TV. Coverage is also being broadcast from all evening sessions live on ITV4.
The partypoker.net European Championship is also being shown worldwide through RTL7 in the Netherlands, Sport1 in Germany, Fox Sports in Australia and via Sky New Zealand.