MARC Pugh admitted his throwing skills needed more practice after being one of three Cherries stars to fall under the spell of the ‘The Wizard’.

Huge darts fan Pugh swapped his boots for some arrows when a Cherries trio took to the oche to face leading PDC player Simon Whitlock.

Whitlock geared up for tonight’s McCoy’s Premier League event at the BIC by making light work of Pugh, Matt Tubbs and Steve Fletcher.

The Aussie ace is likely to face a more difficult task when he locks horns with legend Phil Taylor at the Bournemouth showpiece.

“I love my darts,” said Pugh after taking part in the challenge clash at Coral bookmakers on Richmond Hill.

“Simon had hardly done any practice and he was hitting 140s and finishing things.

“It would have been frightening if he had had five or six hours of practice.

“I think I need a couple more hours of practice to be anywhere near good enough – but I love a game.”

Cherries legend Fletcher put up an impressive fight against Whitlock and even tried some sledging and mind games against the world number five.

Pugh joked: “Fletch had probably been putting in the hours to improve his game.

“He is always desperate to win!”

Whitlock was impressed by his footballing counterparts and said: “I thought they did very well.

“I gave up football for darts when I was 15. I will be supporting these guys from now on.”