World Darts Championship, Lakeside, 1-9 January Watch the action every day live on this website or on BBC TV And you can watch uninterrupted coverage of every match on the BBC's interactive TV service To access the service when live coverage is unavailable on BBC One or Two just press the red key and select World Darts from the menu

King, 38, a losing finalist in two of the last three years at Frimley Green, begins his campaign on Monday 3 January against qualifier Wayne Warren.

He won the Winmau World Masters in October, but said: "I'm not too happy with my game at the moment - it's not been too good at all recently.

"It's not the ideal preparation though and not something I'm used to."

In 2002, King lost 6-4 in the Lakeside final to Australia's Tony David, while last year he went down 6-3 to fellow Englishman Andy Fordham.

Doubts were raised about his temperament under pressure, but King feels he proved a point by hitting back from 6-4 down to beat Tony O'Shea in the Masters.

"After waiting so long for it to happen for me on TV I was determined to win it," he said.

Fordham has endured a troubled year having broken his wrist just before September's World Darts Trophy in Holland.

Then came his ill-fated showdown with PDC world title holder Phil Taylor when BDO champion Fordham had to retire suffering from heat exhaustion.

'The Viking' is unseeded for the defence of his crown and while he has been drawn against one of the world's top eight, it could have been worse.

His opening opponent Vincent van der Voort is sure to have a large Dutch contingent cheering him on, but the eighth seed has yet to make a real impact on his visits to the UK.

Five world champions will be in action on an exciting first day of the tournament, with Fordham joined by David, John 'Boy' Walton, title favourite Raymond van Barneveld and women's champion Trina Gulliver.