Brighton has always suited Rob Cross. The sea air the tight stage and the febrile Friday evening crowd combine to spark memories of his surge to the top of the averages chart three years ago. Yet when the Premier League returns to the Brighton Centre for Night Five the former world champion faces perhaps the biggest question of his darting autumn. Is this a last stand or the beginning of a late season play off push.

Cross currently sits sixth on fifteen points five adrift of Michael van Gerwen in the final qualifying place. A single nightly title could slash that margin and Brighton offers opportunity because the draw pits him against Chris Dobey rather than one of the big four. Voltage enters with form in his favour after lifting Players Championship eighteen in Hildesheim and averaging a blistering one hundred and seven in the final.

If Cross gets past Dobey he would likely meet Luke Littler in the semi finals and the teenager has openly admitted the Brighton stage lighting hurts his focus. Cross sees it as marginal gain. He has switched to a softer white flight to maximise board visibility and arrives boasting the best checkout percentage on double eighteen across the field.

The south coast venue has sold out for the fourth straight year and organisers will again roll out the promenade fan zone with live bands and dartboard challenges. Cross has promised to sign every autograph he is asked for saying he feeds off the love that still lingers from his Cinderella run in two thousand seventeen.

Mathematicians calculate he needs twelve points from the next four nights to reach the expected twenty seven point play off line. A trophy on the pebbles would halve that target at a stroke. If Voltage can plug back into the mains under Brighton lights his season may yet crackle with fresh electricity.