He's a big Ipswich Town fan and now darts ace Ryan Meikle wants to make the type of big strides in his sport Kieran McKenna's side are making in theirs.

Ipswich-born Meikle, who is ranked 45 in the world, lost 1-3 to five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld, at Alexandra Palace on Tuesday night in the World Championships in front of almost 4,000 fans, including many Ipswich Town ones.

East Anglian Daily Times: Raymond van Barneveld congratulates Ryan Meikle after their game at the PDC World Championships at Alexandra PalaceRaymond van Barneveld congratulates Ryan Meikle after their game at the PDC World Championships at Alexandra Palace (Image: PA)

It was Meikle's fourth appearance in the Worlds and he admits although he lost to one of the sport's legends, he was disappointed with the result.

"I was quite confident going into the match to be fair," said Meikle, who has beaten the Dutchman twice before, but not in the Worlds.

"It's the biggest stage of them all and I was a bit disappointed to be honest, although he did play very well, especially in that second set."

Van Barneveld's victory sets up a mouth-watering third round showdown against Gerwyn Price next week, while Meikle will have to satisfy himself with a £15K losing purse and some kind words from Barney.

"Yes, Barney was very nice afterwards," Meikle added. "We had a long chat. He said he felt I played well, keep doing what I'm doing. It was good to hear what a five-time world champion thought."

East Anglian Daily Times: Ryan Meikle with a good luck message from Ipswich Town fans in the Alexandra Palace crowdRyan Meikle with a good luck message from Ipswich Town fans in the Alexandra Palace crowd (Image: Newsquest)

A barber by trade, hence his stage name 'The Barber', Meikle says he is now going to start going for it more in 2023 as he continues his rise up the rankings.

"As I said, I'm disappointed not to be going back to Alexandra Palace after Christmas for the rest of the tournament, which I would have been doing if I'd won," Meikle said.

"But I'm going to put a bit more into my darts next year. More time, an extra day or so. Hopefully it will pay off."

And quickly back to football, Ipswich Town being another of Ryan's big passions. What does Meikle think of the Blues hopes of promotion out of League One as they look to rise up the rankings themselves?

"It has got to be our year, hasn't it?" he said. "We mustn't get too carried away but if we bring in a few top players in January, I'm very confident."