Luke Humphries reacts to Luke Littler World Cup of Darts U-turn as England eye glory

has full confidence in his team-mate as they gear up to defend England's title at the World Cup of Darts next month. Dubbed as the dynamic 'Lukes of Hazard' duo, world No.1 Humphries says he never expected Littler to turn down the chance to represent his country.

Speculation over Littler's participation increased after a hostile reception at the German Darts Grand Prix last month but Humphries declared his faith in the 18-year-old world champion, saying he wasn't worried about him backing out: "No, I wasn't worried - and look at the team-mates I can fall back on!

"I've got an array of partners that I can get if needed. I saw Luke's (social media) post and I knew straight away that he didn't mean what he said.

"He probably forgot about the World Cup being in Germany. When I asked him about it he said, 'No, I'm definitely playing.' Of course he is. No-one's going to turn down playing for England. You can never turn down playing for your country.

"I would never turn it down in a million years, no matter how tired I was, how ill I was. I'm putting on the England jersey, whether I'm dying or not. I think Luke's the same."

Last year, Humphries and Michael 'Bully Boy' Smith have clinched a historic fifth England World Cup victory in 14 years, following in the footsteps of darts legends Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis. With their recent world champion titles at Alexandra Palace, Humphries and Littler are the duo to watch out for at the upcoming event in Frankfurt from June 12-15.

Humphries acknowledges the high expectations, stating: "We're fully aware that we're going to be massive favourites and everyone's going to expect us to win.

"But I feel like we have to take away that pressure and just go out and enjoy it. Luke's obviously experienced a lot of pressure in his career already, but there is a lot more pressure when you're playing for your country.

"It's not as easy when you're playing by yourself, but Luke's got good doubles experience from when he used to play in tournaments before he joined the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation).

"I was pretty new to the format when I played with Michael last year, but it didn't affect me. We're going to form a great team and if we gel, and play our best, it's going to take a tough performance to beat us."