• PDC World Championship

Anderson sets sights on 2014

Gary Anderson admitted he had already wiped the PDC World Championship off before his first round win © Getty Images

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Gary Anderson admitted his head is already focused on 2014 after coming through the first round of the PDC World Championship with relative ease.

'The Flying Scotsman' whitewashed Mark Dudbridge on the Alexandra Palace stage on Saturday to progress to the second round.

Anderson has endured virtually two baron years on the Pro Tour since his runner-up finish at the 2011 World Championship and Premier League win.

However the Scot revealed that, while every player still targets winning at Ally Pally, he already has his sights set on improving his ranking next year.

"Even this tournament, you do want to win it," Anderson told ESPN. "I completely wiped it off the map maybe five months ago, I just wanted to get past this year and start again next year. "I'm absolutely defending nothing for the next two years now. I'm still sitting 18th and the only way is up now so I'm looking forward to it."

While he did not reach his usual standard of large scoring, Anderson was rarely troubled by Dudbridge during his 3-0 win. As 'Flash' struggled to find consistent rhythm, Anderson stated he found it difficult to concentrate while his opponent struggled.

"I found myself just throwing darts at one stage, I wasn't really concentrating," Anderson said. "But when I slowed my game down and looked at was I was throwing at, I hit it.

"There were a couple of scrappy, scrappy legs. Mark never really got going, I was expecting more 140's, tonnes from him and he was hitting a lot of 85's, 65's and scores like that - so it took a bit of the pressure off.

"I really struggled but the crowd were having a great time here. They were singing every song you could imagine out there - they were loving it."

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