The 18-year-old darts champion insisted he wasn't "bothered" by jeers from the crowd as he beat Rob Cross at London's Alexandra Palace to land a place in the quarter finals of the PDC World Championship.

Speaking to Sky Sports on stage after his 4-2 win, Littler said: "I'm not bothered [by the booing]. Really not bothered.

"Can I just say one thing? You guys pay for tickets and you pay for my prize so thanks for booing me. Thank you - come on!

"I've just seen the stats then but I wasn't really thinking of anything - I just wanted to win the game. It was hostile, nobody wanted me to win, but yet again I proved them wrong."

Fans and pundits have criticised his post-match comments, but Littler insisted others would have reacted in the same way.

In a press conference after his win, he added: "The fans did what they did and I reacted as any other player would really.

"I think I might have reacted a bit too early after the first set but I just had to get on with the job.

"When I went 3-1 up, I felt like I was really in it. Obviously Rob [Cross] found his feet, but I just had to get rid of him."

And the teenage star admitted he actually understands why the crowd reacted like they did.

He said: "It is what it is. They want the underdog to win and they want the favourites to go out. I just had to get out of the way and get my job done.

"I'm only a few games away from lifting the trophy once again but the performance tonight just really doesn't feel like a 106 and a half.

"It was just that much adrenaline going through me, that much emotion, the anger, but I can say I'm glad that I won."