Luke Humphries insists there was no teamwork issue with Luke Littler, after they were criticised for their efforts at the World Cup of Darts.
England went into the tournament as runaway favourites as they boasted a partnership of the two best players on the planet.
However, Littler and Humphries fell at their first hurdle, stunned by host nation Germany in their opening match.
Gerwyn Price, who reached the final with Wales where Northern Ireland scored a dramatic victory, felt it was clear why England had underperformed.
‘When we all turned up…and I’m not just saying this because they lost…the only two players who didn’t turn up together, didn’t sit together, didn’t play as a team…I’m not saying who they are, but they didn’t win their first game,’ said the Iceman.
‘You need it. You need to turn up as a team, practice together, sit together, it’s a team ethic and it didn’t show with England and it showed on the board.
‘They’re great players individually, but you need to be a team. You need that team ethic, you need to be together as a team all the way though, but it didn’t happen.
‘I wanted them to do well but they didn’t. I’m not just saying that, I wanted them to do well but they were rubbish.’
Humphries says that it was all part of the plan for the England duo to do their own thing and operate on their usual schedules, which meant a different arrival time.
‘There was a lot of talk about me and Luke not being a team, but coming from the horse’s mouth I can assure you we were a team. We were!’ Humphries told Online Darts.
‘We didn’t arrive at the same time because I said not to. I told Luke: “Do your own thing, there’s not point us trying to change the way we play.”
‘He gets there about two hours before, I get there four hours before, I need more practice. I said to him to do what he does before, don’t change yourself for me. He turned up two hours after I did and that was not us not being a team.’
Cool Hand added: ‘We sat right by each other. When I arrived I was on the same table as my manager, someone who works with my management and my girlfriend on a four-seater. I’m not going to kick them off the table. He was sat right beside me.
‘All that sort of stuff about us not being a team was not true. We were well up for playing together, we get along really well, it just didn’t happen and that’s it.’
Humphries did suggest that the rowdy atmosphere in Frankfurt may have got to the world champion, who has admitted before he does not enjoy playing in Germany.
‘Fair play to the Germans, they create a great atmosphere. Obviously it was an incredibly tough environment to be involved in,’ said Humphries.
‘I could tell by Luke’s face he didn’t enjoy it. I kind of relished it, but he’s still young, he didn’t enjoy the environment he was in and I don’t blame him. We had to get on with it, we didn’t win and that was it.
‘It seems to have carried on a lot. I thought it would have been nice if Northern Ireland had a bit more talk about them winning it rather than us losing it.’
The Nuke is no fan of playing in Germany
Littler has made it clear he doesn’t relish playing in front of the partisan German crowds.
After losing in the semi-finals of the German Darts Grand Prix in April, he posted on social media: ‘Shouldn’t have been in Munich but had to play anyway.
‘Next one in Germany for me is Dortmund and I am glad to say that.’
That statement means he is not playing in Germany again until the European Championship in October, planning to miss a string of events in the country before then.
Although clearly he did return to play the World Cup, that experience is unlikely to have changed his mind over competing in Germany.
