JOHNNY Haines knows he needs to start picking up significant amounts of money in the coming weeks if he is to maintain any hope of playing in the World Championship at the end of the year.

On the PDC’s two-year, rolling, order of merit system, Haines is now defending the prize money he won during his early days on tour which at the time was enough to secure him a place in the PDC’s biggest tournament at Alexandra Palace in 2012.

The High Street Club player begins his campaign at the Gibraltar Darts Trophy tomorrow night, with the draw made this evening, and is well aware he needs to add to his tally if he is to move up from 62nd in the PDC standings.

“If I can win a couple of games that would be good because I need to start building my money up again,” he said.

“I’m defending the amount I won two years ago and I could lose a bit because I made three Europeans in 2012 but none last year.

“I’ve got two in a row now with Gibraltar and then Dusseldorf in a few weeks, so I need to get some money.

“With the World Championships I’m not doing that well at the moment because I need to be at about £12,000 and I’m only half of the way there.

“Every win is a bonus and the more money I can make the better.

“I want to go as far as I can and if I play well I’ll be happy. It’s always hard playing at these tournaments because there are some very good players there but I know I can do something if I give my best.”

The event has £100,000 in prize money on offer in its second staging, with Phil Taylor winning the first last year.

Taylor will be amongst the field for this year's event, and will enter in Saturday's second round alongside the other 16 seeded stars, with world champion Michael van Gerwen expected to return to action after missing the Austrian Darts Open with an ankle injury.

Play begins tomorrow, with the 16 first round games being held in one bumper session from 3pm at the Victoria Stadium as the 32 qualifiers face off - with the 20 UK qualifiers, including Haines, set to be joined by four host nation qualifiers and eight European qualifiers.