ANDY HAMILTON and Paul Nicholson have withdrawn from the Players Championship events in Crawley this weekend.
Hamilton will not compete at the K2 Centre in the pair of ProTour events after pulling a muscle in his back.
The World Championship finalist has been receiving treatment this week and expects to have fully recovered from the problem ahead of the start of the William Hill Grand Slam of Darts on Saturday November 10.
Nicholson, meanwhile, has opted to withdraw from the weekend's events to prepare for the Grand Slam, having reach the Dutch Darts Masters final last weekend and then competed in Championship League Darts on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"It's been a busy time during October as I've competed in five Championship League Darts groups, the World Grand Prix, the Killarney Players Championships and the Dutch Darts Masters," said Nicholson.
"I'm happy with my form but feel that a break this weekend will freshen me up for the Grand Slam. I'm determined to have a good tournament in Wolverhampton and am focusing now on getting myself ready for the group stage of that event."
Both players will, though, be taking part in the Movember campaign this month, with Hamilton shaving off his trademark goatee beard for the first time in 28 years on Thursday.
The pair are joined by a host of other top players. including Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Dennis Priestley - to find out more about Movember, visit the PDC Mo Bros page.