Luke Woodhouse is hoping to ride the wave of underdog support after upsetting "class act" Luke Littler on the opening night of his World Grand Prix defence in Leicester.
Woodhouse beat the world number one, taking a two-set lead before holding off a fightback from 'the Nuke' to seal the biggest win of his career with a double 12 finish.
Fans at the Mattioli Arena showed appreciation for the way the 37-year-old upset the odds against the 19-year-old sensation, with Littler magnanimous in defeat as he offered congratulations on and off stage.
Woodhouse's reward is a last-16 clash with Nathan Aspinall on Wednesday night and he is keen to make the most of his big moment.
"It's been a bit of a sort of whirlwind. We drove back straight from the venue and put my phone on silent so I woke up to quite a fair few messages and missed calls...I think it was in the low hundreds!" he told the Press Association.
"I think as a nation, when people see an upset, they get behind an underdog in the UK don't they? Nathan is a massive fan favourite himself but I'm hoping it will be fairly even support when we play. I definitely want to try and back it up.
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"I try my hardest not to overthink things too much but when you're drawing the world number one... He's someone who's not just famous for darts playing now, he's an actual celebrity in the media. So when you're there, thinking that you've got a big chance to beat the world number one, the world champion, it's pretty nerve-wracking to say the least.
"He had an off night, and it was a slightly scrappy game, but you've still got to take your chances to win. It proves a lot to myself that even when I'm not feeling great myself, I can sort of dig in and get the results. I probably haven't covered myself in glory on the main stage. So it would be nice to take it deep at a TV tournament."
Littler sent his opponent a good luck message via Instagram and praised him for a good game, sentiments he also shared in person.
"I'm not really good mates with Luke but we get on and we speak. He was more than complimentary after," he said.
"He came up to me in the practice room and wished me the best for the rest of the tournament, the same as his parents did. He wasn't happy but he was a class act."