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Wayne Jones ready for old foe Brendan Dolan

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Wolverhampton's Wayne Jones will be hoping to re-create his Grand Slam victory over Brendan Dolan at the televised PDC Players Championship finals.

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'The Wanderer' beat the Irishman 5-2 in the opening game of the 2010 Grand Slam at Wolverhampton Civic Hall and the two are 1-1 in televised darts.

That will change on Friday afternoon when Jones and Dolan meet in the first session of the Players Championship finals, at Butlins in Minehead, live on ITV4.

The Wednesfield darter qualified for the top-32 event after finishing 31st on the Pro Tour Order of Merit, while Dolan won his second ranking title last weekend.

He beat Jones 2-0 in straight sets at the 2011 World Grand Prix, so the two are neck-and-neck on the box, and the West Midlander is keen to take the lead again.

He said: "I am just glad to be in the finals, as it's been an up-and-down year in the Players Championship. I was never going to get an easy draw, anyway.

"I am not too disappointed, I beat him at the Grand Slam quite easily last year but, since then, he's been on fire and I don't expect him to let up now.

"It's about how I play, no one expected me to get up there and beat Dave Chisnall 6-0 last year, but I did. It's never over until it's over."

The winner will face either Andy Hamilton or John Part on Saturday afternoon if they go through, with the tournament done and dusted by Sunday night.

The PDC's finest then move on to the World Championship in the middle of next month, with Jones wanting to end a topsy-turvy year on some highs.

He failed to qualify for his home-town Grand Slam for the first time this year and the Players Championship finals are only his third televised tournament of 2013.

He said: "I would have love to have been in the Grand Slam, but I am looking forward to playing in both of these competitions.

"If I can win a couple of games during each tournament, it would finish the year on a half-decent note going into the New Year."