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John Henderson believes that he has got the game to do well at the Speedy Services UK Open, but insists that he won’t be taking anything for granted in Bolton on Thursday.

Photo: Lawrence Lustig/PDC

‘Highlander’, who faces Riley’s qualifier Lee Bryant in the preliminary round, is pleased with the way he is playing going into to his first televised tournament of 2012.

He said: “My preparations are going quite well. I’m practising a lot more at the moment. I struggled a little bit at the beginning of the year with a couple of injuries.

“I had a good weekend in Crawley at the last Pro-Tour events. I had two good wins against Simon Whitlock and Gino Vos and gave Mervyn King a great game so my confidence is up just at the right time.”

Henderson must win three games on Thursday, including a potential second round tie against Colin Osborne, to go into the draw for Friday, when the top 32 qualifiers join the competition.

“It doesn’t really matter who I play, getting to the Friday would be an achievement for me,” added Henderson.

“I know I’m capable of beating anyone on my day, so hopefully I can win three tough games on Thursday and take it from there.

“I won’t be taking anything or anyone for granted because a lot of the qualifiers will be very good players. I’ll just go out there and do my best and hopefully it’s good enough.”

By Chris Murphy