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The McCoy’s Premier League continues tonight in Brighton, where 2009 winner James Wade takes on Raymond van Barneveld in an all MODUS clash, before Simon Whitlock does battle with world champion Adrian Lewis.

Photo: Lawrence Lustig/PDC

Wade is chasing a second successive victory after beating Kevin Painter in Exeter last week; to claim his first win of this campaign. He said: “I didn’t put any pressure on myself last week and went out to enjoy the game. I did enough to win last week but playing Raymond will be a good test for me.”

Standing in Wade’s way is a rejuvenated ‘Barney’. He fought back from 6-4 down to claim victory over Andy Hamilton last Thursday, and currently sits fourth in the league table. Van Barneveld and ‘The Machine’ lock horns in the penultimate game of the evening.

‘The Wizard’ takes on ‘Jackpot’ in the final match, as Whitlock hopes to bounce back from two successive defeats. The Australian had started well, claiming a victory over Wade and a draw with ‘Barney’ to put himself top of the table. He has since suffered defeats at the hands of Kevin Painter and the record-breaking Phil Taylor though, and while he is looking forward to his next match, he knows it could be just as hard.

He said: “I love playing against the best players in the world and that’s why the McCoy’s Premier League this year is absolutely brilliant, because it’s the eight best players in the world and all the games are tough. If I can play like I did last week though, I should get a result.”

In the night’s other matches, Painter takes on Hamilton before Taylor goes head to head with defending champion Gary Anderson.

Tonight’s matches (involving MODUS players)

JAMES WADE v RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD (Game three)

SIMON WHITLOCK v Adrian Lewis (Game four)

By Chris Murphy