Luke Littler is yet to discover his scintillating best and finds himself under some "pressure" in the early weeks of the Premier League season, believes Wayne Mardle.
The back-to-back world champion and world No 1 suffered a 6-1 thrashing to eventual Night Three champion Jonny Clayton in Glasgow, having received a bye into the semi-finals after Michael van Gerwen's withdrawal through illness.
Littler's defeat on Thursday leaves him without a nightly victory through three weeks and with just four points.
"I didn't think I'd be saying it so soon, that there's a tiny bit of pressure on Luke Littler," said Your Site Darts' Mardle. "Not to go and win the night but win and feel better because he's not playing anywhere near his normal standard.
"It's a real small sample but he's not playing to his 105/106 average, which seemingly he can do on his head. It's not working for him, it's not going his way.
"Against Jonny he's playing a man that doesn't fear him, it's a big game for Luke Littler."
Littler faced an extended wait backstage in Glasgow amid the absence of scheduled quarter-final opponent Van Gerwen, before encountering an imperious Clayton.
The Welshman opened his evening by clinching his first win over Gerwyn Price in three years, before dispatching Littler emphatically and then out-classing Gian van Veen 6-2 in the final.
"Jonny Clayton has been explosive in the quarters every week but in the semis he has dropped off and you were waiting to see. He proved tonight could be the night of The Ferret, he was exceptional. Real big finishes," said Your Site Darts' Laura Turner.
"The Premier League hasn't been up there with the levels we expect of Luke Littler. We are waiting for him to go boom."
It marked the second successive semi-final defeat in the Premier League for Littler, who will now headline this weekend's inaugural Poland Darts Open in Krakow, where he faces either Mike De Decker or Marvin Kraft in the second round on Saturday night.
Littler clinched his second consecutive World Darts Championship crown with victory over Van Veen in the final at the beginning of January, and has since won the first ever Saudi Arabia Darts Masters as well as the World Masters.
Who will win this year's Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries will be defending his title and you can watch the action every single Thursday from February until May on Your Site. .
