Adrian Lewis begins defence of Coral UK Open title on Friday

Adrian Lewis will attempt to put his poor Premier League form behind him as he begins his defence of the Coral UK Open in Minehead.

Lewis has won just one of his five Premier League matches and was struggling with a virus in Exeter on Thursday as he lost 7-3 to Stephen Bunting.

‘Jackpot’ powered to an 11-1 win over Terry Jenkins in last year’s UK Open decider, and he is hoping to avoid any potential banana skins as he targets the £60,000 first prize on Sunday night.

"I'm looking forward to the UK Open and hopefully I can retain the title," said the 30-year-old. "It's such a challenging tournament and the last day, where you play three matches is tough.

"You've got to make sure that you prepare right and eat the right things to keep you going through the day, but I've got to make it to the last day first.

"It's the FA Cup of Darts and I could draw Phil (Taylor) or Michael (van Gerwen) in the first round or anybody. I can beat anybody and lose to anybody on my day and that's the magic of this event."

The tournament kicks off on Friday afternoon as a field of 115 professional players are joined by 32 Rileys Amateur Qualifiers, with eight stages in action at once on the opening day.

The lower-ranked professionals, who qualified through a series of six one-day events held in Wigan during February, are joined by the amateur qualifiers for Friday afternoon's preliminary, first and second rounds.

"It's the FA Cup of Darts and I could draw Phil (Taylor) or Michael (van Gerwen) in the first round or anybody."

Big-name stars in action in the early rounds include three-time world champion John Part, who plays Dutch newcomer Mike Zuydwijk, and 2011 UK Open finalist Wes Newton, who plays York left-hander Martyn Turner.

Former World Championship finalist Mark Dudbridge is up against Rileys qualifier Lloyd Pennel, while fellow former major finalists Wayne Jones, Ronnie Baxter and reigning world youth champion Keegan Brown are also in action in the early rounds.

Friday night's third round sees the leading 32 qualifiers enter the fray, led by world No 1 Van Gerwen, reigning world champion Gary Anderson, Phil Taylor and Lewis.

The third round draw will be made at the end of the second round, and with no players being seeded there is the possibility of top players facing each other at any stage.