Bradwell's Mervyn King is confident he is running into form at the right time - ready for the biggest event of the year.King goes into the PDC World Championship spurred on by some fine recent results that include winning the Dutch Darts Trophy and a semi-final appearance in the ITV-televised Grand Slam of Darts.

Bradwell's Mervyn King is confident he is running into form at the right time - ready for the biggest event of the year.

King goes into the PDC World Championship spurred on by some fine recent results that include winning the Dutch Darts Trophy and a semi-final appearance in the ITV-televised Grand Slam of Darts.

And the 42-year-old ranked No 12 in the world, feels that if he takes his best game into the showpiece championship then he should be a man to be feared.

“I'm always confident. The trouble with my game is that I never know how I'm going to throw on stage.”

Alexandra Palace is again the setting for the PDC's Ladbrokes.com World Championship - the No 1 tournament for the professional version of the game - from December 19 to January 4 and King has been pitted against either Hannes Schnier of Austria or China's Shi Yongsheng in round one.

Living legend Phil Taylor, 13-times winner but beaten twice by King this season, is again the bookies' favourite for the Sky Sports-televised title.