DESPITE suffering an 8-1 loss to Raymond van Barneveld on his Holsten Premier League Darts debut, Ronnie Baxter will head to Sunderland on Thursday in confident mood.
The Swindon-based world number three appeared in the Premier League for the first time last week, when he returned to his original home county of Lancashire for the launch in Blackburn.
He was left shell-shocked as fellow debutant Barneveld romped into a 5-0 lead before Baxter could reply, and the Dutchman eventually sealed an 8-1 win.
"I thought I played very well for my first time," said Baxter.
"I played exceptionally well on the scoring and kept with him, but a missed few doubles in the early legs crippled me.
"It's like any other game, if you give your opponent the chance he'll take it out. I went into cruise control a bit and gave myself chances, but I wasn't taking them.
"But we all know how to play darts, we've all been on the big stage before and I had an excellent crowd.
"I expected some support, but not that many people. I enjoyed every minute, roll on the next one!"
Even at 5-0 down, Baxter remained confident he could overcome Barneveld, and he will take that mindset into Thursday's opener against Roland Scholten.
"My thoughts were always to win the next leg," added Baxter.
"You can't give up, it's first to eight and he was only 5-0 up - if he can get five in a row then so can I.
"I've got Roland next so it's a good chance to bounce back."
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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