Darts fans worried about Luke Littler following his claim after the Dutch Masters Final defeat to Michael van Gerwen

There is concern following Luke Littler's comments after his Dutch Masters Final defeat to Michael van Gerwen.

Van Gerwen, a three-time world champions, beat teenager Littler 8-6 to win the Dutch Darts Masters on Saturday evening.

Littler beat Van Gerwen to win his first PDC senior title at the Bahrain Masters last week but was unable to make it back-to-back victories against the Dutchman.

In the aftermath of his defeat, Littler: “Hopefully I haven't burnt myself out for the Premier League next week. I'll take this as match practice and it goes into my World Series ranking, but I can't wait to go down to Cardiff."

Fans may be concerned by the 17-year-old’s comments regarding “burnout”. The Nuke averaged 106.71 in the final, compared to Van Gerwen’s 100.59, but the Dutchman's checkout percentage of 66.7 left his opponent with very few opportunities.

Littler added: "It went leg by leg, hold by hold. At the end when I hit a 180, he came back with one.

"Throughout the game, it was unbelievable. I put him under pressure or tried to - he just wouldn't miss!

"The crowd have been amazing, they want Michael to win and I get that."

Meanwhile, Van Gerwen told ITV: "This is what people like to watch.

"Luke Littler will have a bright future ahead of him, we all know that. His scoring power is immense. He doesn't care about anything and he does his own thing.

"I needed my best performance. To win this trophy and win against Luke Littler in front of the home crowd is amazing."

Littler returns to action on Thursday as he makes his Premier League Darts debut in Cardiff.

He will again face Luke Humphries in the quarter-finals, with Cardiff the first of the tournament’s 16 events.