Mark Allen sees off Ali Carter to claim Players Championship final spot as he aims to win tournament for the second time in his career

The Northern Irishman, who won the tournament in 2016, chalked up another impressive scalp having already seen off Mark Williams and Gary Wilson as he finished strongest in the first semi-final.

The scores were tied at 3-3 when Allen took control of proceedings, reeling off three frames on the bounce to set up a clash with Zhang Anda or Mark Selby.

Allen edged the first frame thanks to a smart yellow in the bottom left pocket that opened up the table but saw his lead wiped out as Carter hit back. There was little to pick between the pair heading into the mid-session break, Allen notching up a break of 108 in the third only to watch as Carter responded with 106 of his own.

Carter blinked first as he gave up the lead once again with errors in a closely fought fifth frame and, although he was able to level up for the third time, Allen was about to make his move.

He won back-to-back frames for the first time, leaving him one away from victory. The pair took it deep with a series of visits before Allen finally seized the opportunity to clear up, sending the black into the centre-right to wrap things up.

"If you think it looked like hard work out there, it felt far worse," he told ITV Sport.

"I wasn't on it tonight at all, my timing was awful, I had to hit the practice table at the interval as I didn't feel I was hitting the ball where I intended.

"I thought Ali played better than me if I'm honest but my safety kept me in it which allowed me to create a few opportunities for myself.

"As the match went on, I started to improve a little bit over distance but it was a strange game because I felt Ali played better than me.

"I'm not happy with how I felt or how I played out there, but it's all about results in this game.

"I won and I'm in the final, I've got a day to try and put that right and I'll be ready come Sunday.”

Saturday’s action sees Selby attempt to recreate the form that allowed him to blow away Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-0 in the quarter-finals, with third-seed Zhang standing in his way.