Barry Hawkins believes the heartbreak he suffered in Belfast has spurred him on to become more clinical, something he is using to perfection in the Coral Scottish Open.

The Ditton player surrendered a four-frame lead to lose to Mark King in the final of last month’s Coral Northern Ireland Open, a defeat he admitted has continued to hurt.

But he is on a roll in Glasgow, booking a fourth-round clash with Liang Wenbo after a 4-1 win over Mike Dunn on Thursday.

Hawkins was already on a high after clawing his way back from 2-1 down to beat fellow World Championship runner-up Matthew Stevens 4-2 on Wednesday. That win followed a 4-0 success over Hammad Miah in round one.

Hawkins dominated the latter stages to deny Stevens even a point in the last three frames on Wednesday, something he was aware he needed to do.

He said: “Mark played well to come back and beat me but I was disappointed – I’ve learnt from that experience and remember relaxing too much and know I can’t afford to do that.

“If I get in that position again then I know I have to try even harder, that’s what Ronnie O’Sullivan does to people but I had to do it from the other way around in this game (against Stevens).

“A lot of people are in Christmas-mode so it would be lovely to finish well and end the year with a good run.”

Watch the Scottish Open LIVE on Eurosport 1 and Quest, featuring daily studio analysis from Ronnie O’Sullivan, Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.