Unhappy Michael van Gerwen has told late Luke Littler he's not a baby anymore and he needs to act professionally.

The three-times world champion took the teenager to task ahead of their Premier League clash in Belfast. Van Gerwen and the other competitors were left waiting around at their media launch for the event as Littler didn’t show up on time.

When asked to describe the scene of the kid turning up 25 minutes late, Van Gerwen firstly said: “Who?” When it was put to him again, he said, “45 minutes late, you mean.”

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Van Gerwen then continued: “Yeah, They need to stop treating him as a baby, eh? He’s not baby anymore, he’s 18 years old now. No, it happens, you have 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. But now seven other people is waiting for him, so that’s not really nice, is it? But it is what it is.”

Van Gerwen also took down questioning about the Likes of Littler and Luke Humphries having the stage presence of iconic greats such as Phil Taylor at this stage of the careers.

He added: “Of course, whatever they do is great, it’s nice, but you can’t compare it with the [Gary] Andersons, the Taylors or me yet. Of course, in 10 years time, we have a different conversation probably, but not now. Of course, whatever they do is phenomenal, good for darts in general. But I think it takes away the respect of the Phil Taylors and other guys, you know what I mean?

Asked if facing Littler in the last World Final was like facing Taylor, he added: “Na. Phil Taylor was a different kind of animal.”