SCOTT Mitchell admits it was a "difficult few days" for him to process after his early PDC World Championship exit, but insisted: "I'm not going to let it break me."

Mitchell endured an Alexandra Palace debut to forget, going down 3-0 to unfancied Dutchman Chris Landman.

It could have been a very different story for Scotty Dog, who missed his first 14 darts at a double in the match, and was punished as Landman won each of the opening eight legs.

And despite a mini late rally from Mitchell, Landman closed out the victory to move into a second-round clash with number 27 seed Ian White, where he went on to lose 3-1.

Reflecting on his early exit from the tournament, the Dorset thrower told the Daily Echo: "The bigger the game, the harder the fall. I probably had more media attention about this one going in as when I won (the BDO title) in 2015. I just felt so good. I felt great in the practice room.

"I’d been working on my doubles because I had a bad game at the Players Championship Finals, going down to zero (against Jonny Clayton). That’s been playing on my mind for the last two or three weeks. Maybe I took that up there, I don’t know.

"But I never felt at any point in time the game was gone, even when I was two sets down. But I haven’t brought myself to be able to watch it yet.

"The way I was missing, if I was missing by miles and miles I would be really, really concerned. But I wasn’t.

"It was something I had been practising and working on for two weeks and maybe psychologically I overworked on it and then got there and went ‘right, here we go’, rather than saying ‘you’ve got the chance, go and hit it’. Two different mindsets and maybe I got it slightly wrong."

 

Scott Mitchell v Chris Landman PDC World Championship (Pictures: Taylor Lanning)

Scott Mitchell v Chris Landman PDC World Championship (Pictures: Taylor Lanning)

 

He continued: "My average was just shy of 90, which is acceptable. And had I hit the doubles I would’ve been mid-90s.

"So it really is one of those things that if I harbour on it too long, it will stop me again next year. But the position I’m in and the 12 months I’ve had within in the PDC and being on the Pro Tours, I’ve done amazingly well to qualify for there and the Players Championships.

"One bad game doesn’t make a bad season. I can’t linger on it otherwise I will take it into next season and have a tough start.

"I think the other part with the game was, had I have won the game, I think I would’ve guaranteed my tour card for the end of next year already, before I’d even started. That was definitely on my mind. I know I was thinking that, just go and win one game and you know that your tour card is secure at the end of the year. You’ve then got another free year where you can relax and you know you’re going to have it.

"When you’re a debutant and a new guy, there’s certain things that sometimes crop up that shouldn’t do and that’s certainly one of them.

"When you’re playing for bigger prize money as well, it’s a lot bigger prize money in jumps from game to game than I’ve played for as well, and that may be a telling factor. But it’s not going to ruin my new year. I’ve had a great year."

 

Scott Mitchell v Chris Landman PDC World Championship (Pictures: Taylor Lanning)

Scott Mitchell v Chris Landman PDC World Championship (Pictures: Taylor Lanning)

 

Having lost the first eight legs of the match, Mitchell looked in real danger of exiting the Ally Pally stage without even getting off the mark.

"You go there and you can hear the commentators on Sky going ‘he’s going to get whitewashed here’," admitted Mitchell.

"Nobody wants to see any other player whitewashed. Then I popped up with a double top first dart and then did an 11-dart leg, which is quite crazy. That’s how quick momentum in sport can go and particularly in darts. You can make one mistake and it plays on your mind and it can get you.

"I think missing five in the first leg then sets the tone for you in the match. That was the cardinal sin that I made. I think had I won the first leg, that would’ve settled me down quicker and you then don’t let the game pass you by.

"It’s been a difficult few days, I didn’t bring myself to watch any darts for a day or two, I just turned over after the Bournemouth game on Saturday.

"I’m not going to let it break me. It will break me for a couple of days, but it’s not going to get me for the rest of the year.

"I will be back on the board probably practising just after Christmas and getting ready again to do some other things and get back on the Pro Tours at the start of February and put my stamp down again."