Six-time UK Champion Steve Davis advises Mark Allen to stop 'beating himself up' after Northern Irishman says his current form is 'depressing'

Antrim man Allen beat his Welsh opponent 6-4 but criticised his own form, labelling it as "depressing".

The world number three managed a highest-break of just 56 in a low-quality contest in York.

Speaking after his win, Allen told the BBC: “It’s actually quite depressing to be honest, the way I’m playing at the minute.

“It’s not much fun. I’m trying so hard and I just can’t play. I’ve always backed myself under pressure but there’s something technical that’s not right because I’m missing so many easy balls.

“It’s hard to take any positives out of that, other than the fact that I got six frames.

“I’ve been trying so hard the last few months and it’s really getting me down because things are really good at the minute in my life and snooker’s just awful. Absolutely awful.

“It is all confidence. I know that two or three months ago I was the number one player in the world but you’re only as good as your last result and I just feel like I’m not playing well enough right now.”

When asked by the BBC what Allen can do to improve his form and performance, Davis responded: "I think all the players want to win pretty.

"Nobody wants to be out of form in this event but Mark Allen has now the situation where he is judging himself more than he perhaps has ever done in his career about his performances and keeping his standards up.

"The problem is that you can beat yourself up a little bit too much instead of just playing as you normally would have done.

"He needs to play with a bit more fluency and that will give him more authority.

"He maybe hasn't got any technical problems, he just maybe needs to speed up the action just a fraction."

Allen, who won the event in 2022 after staging an incredible comeback against Ding Junhui, faces China's Wu Yize in the last 16.