Luke Littler will have to take the snail trail to glory after landing a date with slowcoach Mensur Suljovic and admitting: “He’s not going to change for me.”

After Luke the Nuke eased into the third round of the Paddy Power PDC World Championship at Alexandra Palace, he found himself on a collision course with the Austrian plodder whose timewasting style erupted in a “cheat” storm on Sunday. Suljovic was accused of underhand tactics by beaten opponent Joe Cullen, who raged on social media: "If that's darts, I don't want no part of it! The old guard will say it’s part of the game, but word it how you will - it’s CHEATING!”

Now defending champion Littler, who likes to get on with it and save the punters from a mad dash for the last Tube home, is preparing for a painstaking night on the slow train. The 18-year-old said: “A lot of other players, including myself, we have fast throws. Obviously, you don’t want to be stood there for as long because you’re getting cold and you just want to get on with it.

“But Mensur, he’s not going to change for anyone. He’s not going to change for me. He’s just going to do his job and obviously he wants to win.”

The contrast between Suljovic, who is the darts equivalent of stringing 40 passes to get out of your own half in football, and Ricky Evans, who can hit a 180 in just 2.1 seconds, is vast. And although Littler admitted he would “definitely” prefer to play opponents with Evans’ need for speed, he warned: “This is going to be my first meeting with Mensur since I’ve been on the (PDC) Tour.

• Luke Littler called out by five-word text message by next opponent amid 'cheating' row

• Darts star apologises for 'blatant lying' in statement after PDC World Championship ban

“After the draw, he messaged me before the tournament saying, ‘See you in round three, good luck.’ I just said good luck to him. So yeah, it’s happened and hopefully we can have a good game.

“We all know he flicks his flight quite a few times before he throws. But I didn’t see anything wrong (with his approach against Cullen).

“Joe felt what was up and spoke out about it, and obviously if Mensur tries anything to try and put me off or slow me down, then I’ve got to be ready for it.

“I just want to get on with the game, no matter who I play. Obviously Joe’s felt like he’s slowed it down, but It’s not cheating.”

After No.8 seed Chris Dobey’s defeat by Andrew Gilding on Saturday, another two seeds in Littler’s quarter of the draw fell by the waysidewhen Cullen and Gerwyn Price both crashed out on Sunday. It’s too soon to shout the odds about the draw opening up for His Nukeship, but Christmas has come early for him.

“I guess you can say that, but as a player you can only face what’s in front of you,” said Littler. “Right now there’s a lot of talk about Mensur throwing slow. But I’ve just got to be ready for it.”