SCOTT Mitchell insisted bookmakers’ prices made no odds to his approach when he stepped up to the oche.

The Bransgore star tomorrow begins his quest to land the BDO World Trophy at the Guild Hall in Preston.

Mitchell is a huge odds-on favourite in his first-round clash with Asian qualifier Pengiran Mohamed (9.30pm).

Earlier this week, Scotty Dog was listed as a 1-20 shot by a leading bookmaker to triumph against the thrower from Brunei.

He is now around 1-14 with most firms and an 8-1 third favourite to win the event outright for the first time in his career.

Mitchell told the Daily Echo: “A friend of mine said I was 1-20 which is pretty strong and there’s the extra pressure of that. I never look at the odds but someone always comes to tell me!

“I am not a betting man in any shape or form and never have been.

“But there is always someone who tells you because people will have a little flutter on things every now and again. They like to have a little flutter on you because you are a friend.

“It doesn’t affect me because half of it I don’t understand anyway.

“I try not to allow it to and that’s the best way to do it.

“I always say to them ‘did you need to tell me that?’ but they still tell me!

“Once you get up there and prepare for the game, you play what is in front of you and try to get your own game out there to impose yourself on the opponent.

“It doesn’t matter who you are playing, it’s all down to you.”

Mohamed was knocked out by Gary Robson in the preliminary round of this year’s Lakeside World Championship.

Apart from that defeat, he goes into the competition as a relative unknown.

“We don’t really know a lot about him,” added Mitchell.

“It’s very similar to when I played Umit Uygunsozlu from Turkey last year. He hadn’t been around and ran me close 6-5.

“When I started all this stuff it was great to play people you didn’t know because you could concentrate and get on with your own game. Nowadays, they know who I am.

“You could play this event five times and have five different winners, it’s that close and you have to be playing well enough to take that bit of luck when it comes your way.

“It’s about hitting the right things at the right times to get in your opponent’s head.”

The 2015 world champion has recently sealed triumphs at the German Open and Denmark Masters.

Should Mitchell progress through to round two, he will face either Kyle McKinstry or Jonathan Worsley.

Middlesbrough’s reigning world champion Glen Durrant is an even-money favourite to win the tournament, followed by Mark McGeeney.