A WHIRLWIND first year in the PDC created a huge amount of expectation on Stephen Bunting’s second term which involved elevation to the Premier League and World Series.

There have been times in 2015 when the going has been tough, with the Windle-based thrower’s confidence suffering as he failed to hit his own high benchmarks.

But after some good displays towards the end of the year Bunting is aiming to sneak in through the back door at this year’s World Championships at Alexandra Palace.

He said: “It is definitely been a tough year and I have been beating myself up about it at times.

“I have tried different darts and things, when the problem is a bit closer to home. It was just confidence I think, and that is a massive thing in darts.

“I have had some crushing defeats and in the last two big tournaments I have been close to tears to be honest and stumbling for words as to what went wrong.

“My form on the pro-tour, with two semis and two quarters in the last four, means my form is slowly coming back.

“The only thing that has really been letting me down on the TV games has been the doubles. If I can sharpen up on those then I will definitely be threat.”

It has been a tough year, with a schedule that involved regular Thursday night action in the big arenas from February followed by an extensive tour to the other side of the world in August.

Those experiences were amazing - but a tough part for Bunting was leaving his family behind for a whole month.

"It is really difficult being away from home - and for the World series I was away for the whole of August, travelling to Sydney, Auckland and then finishing in Hong Kong,

"It is difficult being away, but still got Skype to keep in touch. It is not as bad as it was 10 years ago because we can still keep in touch.

"That said I miss the family when I m in London or Coventry too, that is the most difficult part of professional sport because you are always away.

"But at by the same token you don’t know how long this is going to last," he said.

Although, results wise, wild card entrant Bunting did not enjoy the best debut year in the prestigious Premier League he nevertheless enjoyed the experience and would love another crack at it now that he knows what to expect.

On the whole the crowds warmed to Bunting, apart from at Glasgow where he was mercilessly booed by a partisan crowd shouting for home boy Peter Wright and let a 5-1 lead slip to end up drawing.

"I love the Premier League - it was an amazing experience and I am honoured to be included in that," he said.

" I am probably borderline to get back in it for next year, and need a good Worlds to do that.

"But I enjoyed it and played in arenas in front of 14,000 people instead of 2,000. That was a big change in my life and the crowds were fantastic, apart from Glasgow when I played Peter Wright.

I thoroughly enjoyed that and it was same with the World Series which was a huge honour to represent myself all over the world.

“Hopefully I can get back in them next year because I have had a year behind me now and know what to expect.

“You are thrown into the fire really at venues you had never witnessed before and I was so nervous that I can’t describe it. It was like a concert atmosphere.

"I loved every minute of it, but maybe next year I don’t think the nerves would be there as much.

“I’d love to get back in that, but I will just have to wait and see.

“All I am focused on is a good Worlds

“Last year was an amazing tournament at Ally Pally – it was my debut there and there was a lot of pressure on me as I had gone into as BDO champion and was talk of winning the two back-to-back World Championships.

“There has been no major hype going into this and that is what I prefer, hopefully I can sneak in through the back door.

“If you are not winning and TV and press are not interviewing you, and people are not talking about you it takes a tiny bit of the pressure off.

“It is down to me to put myself back in the headlines and get people talking about me again.”

Bunting said his preparation for this tournament has been going well, but this has included a pep talk from St Helens comedian Johnny Vegas.

“That was amazing how that came about through the Steve Prescott Foundation. He wanted to do a video clip and that went down a storm on the internet. I’d like to thank him for that.

“I have been working on my starts to the games and will be 100 per cent ready and try and push myself into the top eight after the worlds," he said.

Stephen Bunting plays Jyhan Artut on Sunday, 20 December in the evening session, in the first round of the William Hill World Darts Championships..