WAYNE MARDLE will step onto the Metro Radio Arena stage tonight knowing that only a win can propel him into the Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts play-offs.
Mardle is one of three players chasing the final place in the semi-finals later this month, with the Essex star facing Adrian Lewis in a 'sudden-death' contest before Peter Manley - who currently occupies fourth place - takes on Phil Taylor in the final game of the league phase in Newcastle.
All three are level on 11 league points, but Mardle has the inferior leg difference and admits that 8-0 and 8-1 defeats to Taylor during the campaign could cost him.
"I need to win," he said. "What has cost me is the two results against Phil, otherwise my legs difference would have been better than both Peter and Adrian.
"Now I need to win, it's clear-cut and there's only one way to play it and that's to be aggressive.
"If I needed a draw, you can potentially play for a draw but I've just got to get on with the situation that I'm in."
Mardle suffered a whitewash to Taylor in week five but has bounced back well to put himself in the play-off picture.
"The first five or six games I actually played okay but didn't hit my doubles and once I started hitting doubles I was fine," he said.
"I had a bad start - and I don't want to make it a dodgy ending!
"The middle part was good, that's when I won my games and it showed I can win when I play well."
Mardle finished at the bottom of the table in his previous two Premier League campaigns, in 2004 and 2005, and admits that making the play-offs for the first time would be an important step.
"Potentially it's perhaps more important for me than anyone else because I've left myself down big-time on the last two occasions I was in the Premier League," added Mardle.
"This year I've played okay, I've had a few bad games but so has everyone, and it would be so good for me personally to make the semis.
"I can win a knockout tournament, I've done it before and I'd be confident if I made the semis but it would also prove a bit to myself that I can do it week-in, week-out against the best. "
He suffered a heavy 8-1 loss to Taylor in Belfast last week, but is confident that defeat is behind him.
"It's gone now," he added. "It was a funny week because it didn't matter whether I won or lost, in that I would have still had to get a result of some kind against Adrian.
"I was in limbo and it was probably my worst display. Phil was too good for me and I let him get to me, but it was disappointing to play like that.
"I'm over it and I've got to go up there concentrate and hopefully get the job done on Thursday."
Mardle and Lewis will face an anxious wait whatever the result of their clash, with Manley knowing that he will qualify if he defeats Taylor in the night's final contest.
"The pressure might be on Adrian the most," said Mardle. "He may only need a draw, whereas I need to win and Peter's playing Phil so he has got his work cut out.
"He knows that, and whatever he gets will be a bonus. Adrian's young and could put himself under too much pressure and play defensively."
Click here to read Rod Harrington's Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts Preview
Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts
Night 14, Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle
James Wade v John Part
Raymond van Barneveld v Terry Jenkins
Adrian Lewis v Wayne Mardle
Phil Taylor v Peter Manley
Live on Sky Sports One from 7.30pm
Follow the action live in DartsTV, with Live Audio Commentary for subscribers and a Free Live Scoreboard, along with Highlights available from Friday evening
Click here to purchase the official 2008 Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts programme