By Luke Cawdell

Gillingham darts players Steve Douglas and Conan Whitehead will be aiming to impress at the PDC UK Open which starts on Thursday.

Both players qualified for the opening round of the tournament which takes place in the Premier Suite at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium.

Douglas, who is ranked 13th on the BDO circuit, is switching to the PDC event after winning through from qualifiers at Rileys in Gillingham.

He is hoping for a dream tie in the third round when the top 32 professionals enter the fray.

"I don’t want to go there and play badly because then it definitely won’t rank as one of my highs," said the 33-year-old, who in January made it to the Lakeside World Championship, where he was eliminated in the first round.

"My ultimate aim is to get through to face Phil Taylor. That would be a dream for me."

World No.1 Taylor is the reigning UK Open champion and he, along with the likes of two-time winner Raymond van Barneveld, will be awaiting the winners from round two on Friday.

For Whitehead (pictured) it is his biggest test yet.

"My aim has to be to reach the final," he said. "But first of all I just want to get through to Friday and we will see where we go from there."

Douglas and Whitehead have been practising together ahead of their first round ties.

The opening two rounds will be a best of seven legs and Douglas faces another local player, in Strood qualifier John Keating in the first round, while Whitehead is paired with Charlie Cooper.