RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD begins his challenge to win the stanjames.com World Matchplay against fellow Dutchman Michael van Gerwen on Wednesday night as he bids to end two years without a major ranking title.
The world number three has not lifted major silverware since the 2007 Las Vegas Desert Classic and suffered a narrow defeat to Phil Taylor in the final of this year's event a fortnight ago.
The 42-year-old is bidding to continue that form at the Winter Gardens, where he takes on youngster van Gerwen in round one.
The pair have enjoyed some exciting clashes in recent years, notably when van Gerwen hit a nine-darter during a Masters of Darts semi-final loss to van Barneveld in 2007.
"Michael is always a tough draw," said van Barneveld. "He may not have the same form as two or three years ago but he's improving again and won a Players Championship recently.
"There are no easy matches any more. If you look at the 16 qualifiers from the Players Championships you could draw Michael, or Vincent van der Voort, Co Stompe, Jelle Klaasen, Robert Thornton, Gary Anderson and the like, so you know you have a tough opponent all the time.
"Hopefully the crowd will be on my side - it's Holland against Holland but hopefully I'll have the Barney Army cheering me on!"
Van Barneveld has been a quarter-final loser on his previous two visits to Blackpool, with Adrian Lewis (16-14) and Wayne Mardle (18-16) taking narrow victories against the Dutchman.
"In 2006 I missed out because Andy Hamilton beat me in the qualifiers but two years ago I got beaten by Adrian in a very good match," he said.
"Last year, I don't know what happened. I was 12-7 up against Wayne Mardle and lost eight legs in a row, and I knew if I lost one more leg I was out.
"Then I won three legs in a row to make it 15-all but then missed some doubles and gave it away."
Whilst many pundits have debated van Barneveld's form this year, he has reached the finals of the Skybet World Grand Prix, Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship and the Desert Classic in the past nine months.
However, he concedes that a fourth successive defeat in the Premier League semi-finals, to James Wade at Wembley in May, was a bitter pill to swallow.
"I'm very pleased to have reached those finals in ranking events," he said.
"But in the Premier League, I lost for a fourth year in a row in the semi-finals and I wanted to be there in the final.
"I lost to James Wade and then later I found out that Mervyn King had beaten Phil Taylor.
"I'm not saying I would have beaten Mervyn in the final but I have a good record against him and it would have made a big difference to me if I was holding the trophy and won the title.
"It gets in your head. It was only 10-8 against James and if I hit my doubles it could have been totally different."
Van Barneveld has reached the Desert Classic final three times in the past four years since joining the PDC, winning the 2007 event, and admits that he enjoys the Las Vegas lifestyle.
"Relaxation is very important," he said. "I took my wife Silvia to Las Vegas and a couple of friends and we relaxed, went for meals and to see a show, did some shopping and I could have a swim in the pool or sit in the sun.
"That was a great preparation for a tournament and I was completely relaxed, whereas sometimes you might sit all day in a hotel room."
He went down 13-11 in the Desert Classic final after leading during the early stages, with a mid-game surge from Taylor shattering van Barneveld's hopes and leading to him briefly walking off the stage after the game.
"I was a little bit in shock in my reaction at the end of the final and left the stage, and I've apologised to Phil since," said van Barneveld.
"A lot of people at home missed what I said about him later when I came back onto the stage, which was disappointing for me.
"I had some nice matches in the tournament though.
"I missed double 12 for another nine-darter on TV, which was a shame, I missed the bullseye for a 170 finish against Co Stompe, had a good result against Mervyn King with a 10-1 win.
"And finally I beat James Wade too, the first time since the World Championship after four beatings.
"I know what I can do after beating James, and 13-11 against Phil isn't a bad result and it gives you hope again."