DORSET darts star Scott Mitchell insists there are “no excuses” for his failure to retain a PDC tour card, and feels his poor showing at last year’s World Championship “killed my momentum”.

Mitchell enjoyed a brilliant first year on the tour in 2021, culminating in qualification for the biggest event of the year, at Alexandra Palace in December.

However, the former BDO champion fell to a 3-0 defeat against unfancied Dutchman Chris Landman in the first round, missing 14 darts at a double along the way.

Scotty Dog then failed to find any runs of form throughout the entirety of 2022 and will not feature in the World Championship this year, which begins next week, meaning he has also lost his PDC tour card.

The only way the 52-year-old will be able to remain among the elite for a third year on the spin will be to come through qualifying school again in January, where hundreds of hopefuls are set to compete.

Reflecting on a tough year, Mitchell told the Daily Echo: “I think at the end of last season I killed my momentum.

“Probably Ally Pally killed my momentum with such a bad first round and missing so many doubles.

“The game was sat there to be had, I just didn’t (take it) and I haven’t really recovered from that.

“I swapped darts not long after that, so that’s taken two or three months to get used to them and then I had COVID and I missed four Pro Tours.

“So although it says that we’ve done 30 Pro Tours, I will have only done 26.

“So that doesn’t help on a year when you’re struggling, you can’t afford to miss them.

“But I had COVID, you can’t do anything about it, we were in COVID times, so it’s just been one of those years really.”

The Bransgore thrower added: “The 128 in the PDC are the best 128 players in the world.

“Even over the last two years I’ve been involved, this year’s is probably a better 128 than last year’s.

“The standard is just getting higher and higher.

“Where the first year was an absolute dream, this year has been reality.

“There’s no excuses. There’s no excuse for what’s happened.

“I’m one of those that I accept that I haven’t done it and it’s all down to me.”

Should Mitchell fail to secure a place back among the sport’s top table, there are other avenues available.

Recently, the Dorset county star has been working as part of the presenting team for MODUS Super Series events, which are a series of online darts tournaments, featuring a host of talented players from around the world.

Also, Mitchell would be eligible to compete on the new World Seniors tour, with major competitions organised for ex-professionals aged over 50.

Robert Thornton is the reigning World Seniors champion, having come through a field which included the likes of Phil Taylor, Terry Jenkins, Martin Adams, John Part and Kevin Painter.

Discussing his recent work with MODUS, Mitchell said: “I’ve had a few days at it now and the whole set-up is just so superb.

“There’s definitely life outside of the Pro Tours, that’s for sure. That’s one thing it’s proved to me.

“To be honest, it’s something that I’ve done (in the past).

“I’ve done all sorts of things so I was more ‘punditing’ rather than presenting, sort of being used for my prowess of having been up there in those moments.

“And then making the odd comment on camera with Abi (Davies) between games about players and how they’ve played and what they’re doing, what they’re prolifically missing or what they’re prolifically hitting.

“Because I watch a lot of darts anyway, because I love it, it’s not a difficult one for me.”