Jonny Clayton admits he is loving being "in the mix" during his debut season in the Unibet Premier League.
The Masters champion had topped the Premier League table following the opening five nights earlier in April, and remains in fourth spot following Tuesday's draw with Nathan Aspinall.
He can secure a spot in the second half of the season in Wednesday's contest with UK Open champion James Wade, and is relishing the challenge of competing in one of the sport's biggest tournaments.
"I'm in the mix, but there's a long way to go," said Clayton. "I've got to stay in this top eight and that's my plan so far but it's that tight and I've still got a job to do.
"I don't think too much about darts, but for some silly reason I'm starting to think and I don't like it. I think I play better darts when I just play, instead of thinking.
"We all know how tight the league is and we all know we've got a job to do. I'm enjoying it - I'm with the elite so that's a dream come true.
"When I came to the PDC, people didn't think that I could do anything here and I've proven a lot of people wrong."
Clayton survived two missed match darts from Aspinall in the final leg of an exciting contest on Tuesday, but added: "It was a great point.
"Two would have been amazing, but one is brilliant. I had to play some serious darts.
"I knew I had a tough game, in the beginning I had a few chances on doubles and Nathan punished me. I dug in then because Nathan's playing great darts."
The Unibet Premier League is broadcast through Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, RTL7 in the Netherlands, DAZN in various worldwide territories including Germany & America, as well as through the PDC's global broadcast partners and on PDCTV for Rest of the World Subscribers outside of the UK, Ireland & Netherlands.
Unibet Premier League
Night Eight - Wednesday April 21
Rob Cross v Nathan Aspinall
Gary Anderson v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Michael van Gerwen v Jose de Sousa
James Wade v Jonny Clayton
Peter Wright v Glen Durrant
Best of 12 legs