I've got a weapon that can sink Luke Littler and he better be good to ...

Ryan Joyce admits he won't be able to live with an in-form Luke Littler

But Relentless has warned the superkid that underdogs have their day and he’s capable of punishing any slips and kill boredom. Joyce beat Ryan Searle to surge into last 16 of the Paddy Power World Championship.

If Littler beats Ian White tonight, he’ll face the Geordie next at the Ally Pally. Joyce accepts an elite display from the 17-year-old would be out of his reach, but knows shocks can happen. He said: ”If Luke Littler plays at his absolute top level, he can beat anybody. He’ll brush me aside comfortably. But if he just has a couple of off sets, you’ll find that it’ll be 2-2 after four sets. I’m not going to miss many doubles against him. He’s going to have to play well, but not his absolute best.

“I have not got the scoring power consistently to compete with Luke, but I can hit the doubles, so I’ll go into the game thinking that I can win. I’ll also feel like I’m the underdog, but we’ve seen in sports so many times the favourite doesn’t always win. Otherwise, it would be boring to watch, wouldn’t it?”

As well as making the last 16 of the tournament, Joyce’s win moves him into top 32 in the world. He said: “I’ve never checked anything like that. That was one of the goals at the start of the year, so it’s nice to achieve that.

“But there’s still a lot of work to do before you talk about me in the same bracket as some of the wonderful players that are above me in the rankings.”