Stephen Bunting addresses rumour he'll make unthinkable change for home Premier League Darts night in Liverpool

The PDC world number four has addressed rumours he will make a special change for Thursday's Premier League event in his home city.

Stephen Bunting is a proud scouser and is preparing to take on fellow Englishman Rob Cross in the quarter-finals at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool.

Bunting sits behind Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen in the PDC Order of Merit.

Cross is yet to win a night in the current Premier League darts season but is right on his tail in fifth.

The Liverpudlian, who won the World Darts Championship in 2014, has been waiting three months for his homecoming moment but won't be altering his process for the occasion.

"Not as if I’ve been counting but after 92 sleeps since the fixtures were announced the day has finally arrived," Bunting posted on X, formerly Twitter, ahead of Night 12.

"So many of you have suggested that I change my walk-on song just for tonight.

"I can confirm that isn’t going to happen, but if I did, it would have been Jamie Webster and 'This Place' just for these lyrics – ‘my city, my people, my heart’."

31-year-old singer-songwriter Webster is a fellow scouser whose music has become synonymous with Liverpool's successes on the football pitch among some supporters.

It won't be heard when Bunting enters the arena today. 'The Bullet' will walk on to the beat of 'Titanium' by French DJ David Guetta and Australian singer Sia.

Stephen Bunting (Image: Getty)

With five nights remaining, 40-year-old home-town boy Bunting needs an unlikely surge to claim a play-off spot.

"It is definitely still attainable, I'm not out of it," he told the PDC.

"I honestly believe I am one of the best players in the world at the minute.

"I'm really happy with where my game is. I just need to keep knuckling down and working hard, and I believe the results will come.

"Playing in Liverpool, it's going to be an incredible night."

Bunting and Cross will be joined at the M&S Bank Arena by a quarter-finals line-up that pits Humphries against Nathan Aspinall and Chris Dobey against Gerwyn Price.

In the pick of the round, world champion and world number two Littler will step up to the oche against beaten World Darts Championship finalist Van Gerwen.