Luke Littler sent brutal SPOTY warning as Phil Taylor makes World Championship prediction

Darts legend Phil Taylor has shared some forthright advice for youngster Luke Littler, urging him to skip the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year event to concentrate on his aspirations for the World Championship.

Even as Littler finds himself regarded as the second favourite to take the coveted BBC prize, after Olympic gold medallist Keely Hodgkinson, Taylor, a 16-time world champion and a former SPOTY runner-up himself, maintains that the level of competition at the Paddy Power PDC World Championship at Alexandra Palace is too intense for any potential distractions.

Littler, who was born in Runcorn and now lives in Warrington, is well-known as a Manchester United supporter as he now bids to go one better at the Ally Pally this winter.

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Taylor said: "Littler is playing like a magician, but Luke Humphries is the man to beat at the Ally Pally. He's reigning champion, he's No.1 in the world and Littler will have to get past him in the semi-finals if the draw unfolds the way you would expect."

Taylor added: "If I was Luke's manager I'd tell him; 'Sorry, you're not going'. Do you want to hang out with a few celebrities on a red carpet - or do you want to win £500,000?

"And the prize money is only part of it. If Littler wins the world title at 17-years-old, the spin-offs and commercial deals will be astronomical, proper life-changing money," as per reports from The Express.

Taylor continued: "I was lucky enough to be voted Sports Personality of the Year runner-up in 2010 and did attend the event, but I was 50-years-old and I'd won 15 world