COLIN LLOYD feels that he is back to his best as he prepares to meet Peter Manley in Thursday's Holsten Premier League Darts.
Lloyd suffered a heavy 8-1 loss to Phil Taylor on the opening week of the Premier League last week, and also fell victim to a first round shock at the Ladbrokes.com World Championship in December.
However, he responded in style last weekend, winning the Irish Masters in Rosslare and sealing the triumph with a perfect nine-dart leg.
He is confident that his top form will continue when he challenges Manley at Sunderland's Seaburn Leisure Centre on Thursday.
"I'm not down on my game, I know it's there and now it's coming out," he said.
"I felt as though I've been struggling a little bit with my finishing, the scoring power has been there but the finishing has been a little bit slack.
"At the weekend I didn't really miss any shots that I needed, so it's a good confidence booster.
"I wasn't down too much after the game with Phil, because he ploughed a big average into me, but it's not nice to be beaten 8-1 and hopefully I'll bounce back on Thursday."
Lloyd landed his first nine-dart leg in competition play against Priestley, having hit seven perfect darts in the previous leg.
"It's always special to win a tournament but to do it with a nine-darter is unbelievable," he added.
"I was getting stuck into the game, me and Dennis were having a bit of a battle and I did an 11-darter the leg before.
"Then the opportunity came again in the next leg, because the 45 didn't go in (in the previous leg) I thought I'd try 57.
"In it went, and I just looked up and threw the last dart, which went straight in the middle."
Lloyd won all three clashes with Manley in last year's Premier League, and is upbeat about his chances of getting off the mark in this year's event on Thursday.
"I'm looking forward to that game because I used to struggle against Peter but I don't any more," said Lloyd.
"I don't know if I've got into his head a little bit, but I feel I have so that's a bit of a confidence boost for the game.
"I got a result over Peter in the semi-final last year, and in the league games I beat him 8-4, 8-4 so I am very confident."
Lloyd will travel from Sunderland to the West Tyrone Open this weekend, and he is looking to complete a hat-trick of victories in the Northern Ireland event.
"Hopefully I can win that one too," he said. "I've won it for the past two years and it's always nice to go over there and get a result.
"Ireland has been quite good to me over the years.
"It's a very busy time, but that's the whole point of being a professional darts player, you've got to go where the money is and where the points are. That's what I'm about and what I'll keep on doing."
Lloyd added that he was impressed with how Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld settled into the Holsten Premier League, marking his debut last week with an 8-1 win over Ronnie Baxter.
"For a guy who said he was feeling a little bit nervous, it wasn't too shabby!" said Lloyd, who meets him in Wolverhampton next month.
"Ray's a quality player, he has been for years, and it was just a matter of when and not if he would come over.
"I feel he's done the right thing, he feels he has done the right thing and it's going to be tough.
"It's going to liven it up a little more, with another top quality darts player up there you know you've got to be on top of your game when you're playing him.
"I'm looking forward to playing him, I've only had that pleasure two or three times so it will be good."
Holsten Premier League Darts
Seaburn Leisure Centre, Sunderland
Ronnie Baxter v Roland Scholten
Wayne Mardle v Raymond van Barneveld
Colin Lloyd v Peter Manley
Roland Scholten v Phil Taylor
Live on Sky Sports One from 7.30pm
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