England's Fallon Sherrock has said how much it will mean to her to be the first female to win a match at the World Darts at Ally Pally tonight.

The 25-year-old - competing in her first ever PDC world championships - takes on Ted Evetts, also from England, but she claims all the pressure will be on him.

"People will put more pressure on Ted. No man wants to lose to a woman. He’ll probably get a lot of stick if he did."

Speaking to The Sun, she said: “To win a match would mean everything to me. I’ve tried so hard to qualify for this. If I can make a ‘first’, I’d be delighted. I assumed the crowd would be with us women because it’s something they don’t see very often."

The only other woman in the tournment, Japan's Mikuru Suzuki, thrilled a packed Alexandra Palace as she staged an incredible fightback from two sets down to England's James Richardson at the weekend before finally losing in the deciding leg.

Buckinghamshire-born Fallon also spoke out about the cruel abuse she suffered when recovering from an illness several years ago.

“About six months after I had my little boy in April 2014, I ended up getting a kidney disease. I started to feel unwell. I didn’t know what was going on until I was diagnosed.

“It was a worrying time. I started taking medication to weaken my immune system because that is what was attacking my kidneys.

“The problem was when I went on different medication I suffered side effects. And the side effects caused ‘moon face’, where my face swelled up. It was a reaction.

“When I played in the BDO worlds on TV, I received a lot of criticism for how I looked.

However, despite the abuse, she did not let it affect her and now feels it has actually had something of a positive impact.

"If I saw negative comments I tried to look past them," she added. "I’m not going to dwell on what someone has said if it doesn’t affect my life. I think that attitude helps to strengthen my character.”

Regardless of whether Fallon wins or loses tonight, she will earn £7,500 for competing in the men's tournament.

That is significantly more than the £1,000 she took home after losing in the quarter-finals of the BDO Women's World Championship.