SCOTT Mitchell admits his debut at PDC Qualifying School left him with “mixed emotions” after failing to secure a Tour Card.

The 2015 BDO world champion was looking to secure his switch to the rival organisation, battling with 520 other players in Wigan.

But after four days of action, the Bransgore ace, who reached this month’s BDO World Championship semi-finals at the O2 in London, came up short.

The top two players on each day received a spot on the lucrative PDC tour, while the 12 highest ranked remaining players also earned a card.

Despite producing consistently high averages across the four days, Mitchell ended 57th on the week’s order of merit.

“I’m disappointed in the end but I’m so happy with how I played so it’s really mixed emotions,” Mitchell told the Daily Echo.

“I went up there primarily to experience the Q School. I’d heard so much about it.

“I wanted to try and play as I’d been playing at the O2 and try and get a steady game up there because I felt that would then be enough.

“But I think there was a bigger target on my back at Q School than there has been at any BDO event if I’m totally honest.

“There were a few players that stepped up and probably played some of their best darts of the four days to beat me. It was a frustrating thing really.

“You’d watch a guy win with a 70-something average and then you’d play him and he’d up it to a 90-odd and then he’d play the next one and disappear back to his 70 and it was just frustrating.”

Mitchell sat on zero points in the order of merit after early exits in the first two days.

Needing a deep run to have a chance of snatching a card on Sunday, ‘Scotty Dog’ produced his best performance of the week, reaching the last 32 before losing to good friend Scott Waites 5-3, despite averaging over 100.

“When you go there, the preparation is very different,” explained Mitchell.

“It starts at half 10 and you get in there and you’re in a queue. I just got the preparation a little bit wrong on the first day. I was in a queue of 200-300 people to register.

“I think after the first day, I was okay. I think I worked out how to do the preparation, worked out how to get myself going. The first day was all very new but after that I was very regimented in how I did it.

“People had to play a lot differently to beat me after that.”

He added: “I had the highest average of all the 500 players that didn’t get a Tour Card. There were only two that got a Tour Card that average higher than me over the week. I take heart from that.

“Everybody’s saying you’re unfortunate and people said 'if you go and average how you average, the games will come to you' and they just didn’t.

“I’m Scotty Mitchell with a star on my shirt and a target on my back and I think I had a bigger star and a bigger target on my back up there.

“The guys that are beating me have gone home and probably said the best part of their week may have been beating Scotty Mitchell. That’s lovely for me, that they want to beat me and see me in that esteem, but it’s kind of disappointing that I didn’t get one, it’s just one of those things.”