was quick to taunt the crowd during his match against Nathan Aspinall in Leeds on Thursday night. Littler, who has already qualified for the playoffs at London's O2 Arena later this month, was going in search of a sixth weekly win of this year's Premier League.

He did the business against Aspinall in the quarter-final, despite missing 10 darts at a double throughout the game. But it was his antics in between his throws that garnered the biggest reactions, with Littler keen to give it back to the dissenting crowd.

During his walkout in the quarter-final clash, boos could be heard directed towards the teen. Sensing the partisan atmosphere in the arena, Littler lifted his arm to his mouth and mimicked a yawning gesture. It's unclear exactly what the fans were unhappy about, but given Littler's outspoken love of Manchester United, there's every chance it was related to that.

Littler remained animated towards the crowd throughout the match, notably getting involved after Aspinall missed treble 19 to set up a nine-darter attempt. The Asp had found seven perfect darts during his first visit to the board, with the crowd reacting when the Stockport-born arrowsmith narrowly missed out on the treble 19 bed.

But Littler's theatrics didn't end there. While lining up a throw, he was caught by the cameras singing along to an anti-Leeds United chant before later mimicking a fake crying gesture after the crowd booed him for winning the eighth leg. That had levelled things up at 4-4, with Littler going on to win the next two legs to take the victory.

By contrast, rival Luke Humphries was welcomed like a hero by the Leeds crowd because of his affiliation to the recent Championship winners. Speaking to talkSPORT earlier this week, he mused: "The atmosphere was amazing, but there was a bit of anxiety from the fans, maybe because we were in the playoffs.

"Whereas this year we won the league, there's been such a great party atmosphere over the last six to seven days. You've seen on Monday the incredible scenes with the parade. So I do feel like the whole city of Leeds is in a buzz at the moment. I'm hoping they're going to bring that on Thursday night and, you know, give me loads of support and I can sort of flourish on it and play well."

Elsewhere in the quarter-finals, Gerwyn Price got the better of Rob Cross, and Humphries defeated Michael van Gerwen.