Stephen Bunting vowed he was ‘not going to be too hard’ on Luke Littler following the teen’s divisive behaviour in Belfast.
Bunting and his six other Premier League rivals were left in the cold, quite literally, by 18-year-old Littler after he was late to media duties last Wednesday having overslept.
However, the fan favourite was reluctant to stick the boot into Littler and expected the world champion would learn from his mistake.
“Listen, he’s a young lad, isn’t he,” Bunting said on talkSPORT’s Hawksbee and Jacobs.
“He’s going to learn. I had my coat, so I was alright.”
Bunting added: “I’m not going to be too hard on him. Obviously he’ll learn from his mistakes.
“People have criticised him for it. Like I said, hopefully he learns from that and he’s not late again.
“But if he’s late again, I think there will be more people having a go at him.”
Bunting’s stance on the matter paled in comparison to the one taken by three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen.
It was the Dutchman who made fans aware of Littler’s lack of punctuality in Belfast and implored PDC officials to stop treating the 18-year-old like ‘a baby’ given he was late by ’45 minutes.’
“They need to stop treating him as a baby, yeah,” Van Gerwen said.
“He’s not a baby any more. He’s 18 years old now.
“It happens. He has to learn, but he needs to learn the hard way. It’s a professional sport so you have to be responsible for your actions as well, simple as that.
“If he turns up late for an interview, I don’t really mind, by now seven other people are waiting for him.
“That’s not really nice, is it?”
Van Gerwen made sure he taught Littler a lesson on the oche, beating the teen 6-5 in their quarter-final encounter on the first night of the Premier League.
It was the third time the pair had met this year after Littler picked up wins in the final of the World Championship as well as the Dutch Darts Masters.
As for Bunting, he was beaten 6-4 by Rob Cross in his opener.
But now that he has the jitters from competing in the Premier League for the first time in a decade out of the way, the Liverpudlian is hoping for bigger and better when he plays Van Gerwen in Glasgow on Thursday.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Bunting said.
“The nerves from the first week have gone now. It’s just about pushing forward and getting back on the big stage.
“I’ve got a tough task at hand playing Michael van Gerwen. But if I turn up and play my best game, I’ve got a really good chance.”