John Higgins saw off fellow Scot Drew Henry to reach the final four of the Liverpool Victoria UK Championship in Bournemouth.

The former world champion and world number one is now just two wins away from his first ranking tournament title for 10 months.

But the first player to reach the semi-finals admitted he was flattered by the 9-6 victory scoreline, saying: "It could easily have been 9-5 or 9-6 the other way."

Higgins pinched one frame on a re-spotted black, two other frames on the black and a fourth frame on the pink. "I didn't play that great but a win is a win," he said.

Higgins who recovered from 62-0 down to steal frame five with a break of 63, and his triumph also included breaks of 75, 65, 70, 58, 52 and 67.

Higgins added: "I heard a couple of the commentators suggesting the clearances had been quite easy but they were anything but."

Sarcastic

Henry also had a saracastic dig at player-turned-commentator Jim Meadowcroft. "He said he'd never seen John play so badly in his life which makes (me) feel a lot better.