Darts icon and Professional Darts Players Association chairman Peter Manley has advised Luke Littler to follow Luke Humphries' example and undergo a weight-loss transformation. The new world champion lost over four stone in three years and 'Cool Hand Luke' next has his sights set on Premier League success, taking on Littler in Cardiff on Thursday.

Humphries credited his dramatic rise over the past 12 months to the weight loss, as he believes it allows him to better cope with long days that often see players compete in quarter-finals, semi-finals and a tournament's final within a few hours.

Littler has had no such trouble since becoming a household name overnight at the World Championship, where he went viral on social media for enjoying a kebab after his first-round match. The 17-year-old has since admitted that he did not have another kebab during his following two weeks at the tournament, however.

Manley, 61, reached three World Championship finals during his playing career but was diagnosed with heart failure in his mid-40s and had to make big changes to his lifestyle. He has now called on Littler to drop the pounds like Humphries after being forced to himself.

"Luke Humphries reminds me so, so much of Luke Littler," Manley told the Daily Star. "When Luke Humphries first came onto the scene, he was so natural, like Adrian Lewis, who you always knew was going to win something.

"I'm a big fella as well and I knew straight away that he'd have to lose some weight. And look at Luke Humphries now, he looks good, he feels fit. I know he had a problem with anxiety and how to deal with pressure, but he's come through that. Luke Littler, to me, just looks a big unit. If he isn't careful and doesn't look after himself, he won't last long because of that. And it won't look good. You want to look good.

"Darts players used to be the fat people who drunk beer. That's changing. Look at Gerwyn Price coming from rugby. They're able to last. They might (be) playing at 10 in the morning and then the final at six at night.

"They're long old days and the fitter you are, the more able you are to have the same levels of concentration at the end of the day as you did at the start."

Littler, however, has dismissed reports of being the kebab-fanatic that he has been portrayed as after becoming a social media sensation. "I had a kebab after my first win and didn't have another in two weeks," he told the Guardian after having a wrap named after him at his local takeaway in Warrington.