BOLTON Wanderers manager Owen Coyle has thrown his support behind the UK Darts Open, which will be held at the Reebok Stadium from Thursday to Sunday. While Coyle’s Wanderers squad have now departed for a summer holiday following the end of their season, the Reebok Stadium is gearing up to host the world’s top darts players. The £200,000 event, screened live on Sky Sports, sees 138 players competing on eight stages in the tournament which is dubbed “The FA Cup of Darts” because of its open draw format after each round. Coyle is an avid darts watcher on television and even visited a Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts event in Manchester alongside 6,000 other fans last year – and he is urging sports fanatics to get along to the Reebok. “I absolutely love darts,” he said. “It’s a really good, entertaining night out. “It’s obviously growing, the TV coverage is growing, everybody is loving it and the involvement that the fans feel is a big part of it. “And when you have the quality of players that are on show now, there’s no doubt that the game is evolving and getting better, and everybody’s buying into it. “I’ll be trying to get along and I’ve mentioned to the players and staff that they should get along too because it’s a fantastic tournament. “The more people who go along, the better. Everybody’s really up for it when they are there, the coverage is great and the sport is going from strength to strength. “My message to the fans is to get along and support it. We want as many large-scale events as possible and this is certainly one of them.” Coyle linked up with 15-time World Champion Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor at the Wanderers’ training ground recently, and revealed his admiration for the sport’s greatest ever player. “Phil is not just at the top of his sport by accident,” adds Coyle. “He’s got a God-given talent but he’s worked ever so hard at it. “The admiration that comes from people looking at him is because of his level of consistency. He doesn’t have one good tournament and then one bad tournament, he’s at such a high level. “You can see the consistency in his shots, the checkouts under pressure and he’s got that mental strength to see all that through. “But the thing I love about Phil is that whoever is playing against him, it’s their cup final. They are fired up and motivated and he sees that all off and comes through it, and above that he does it with such an ease and a style that is very likeable. “The other thing about Phil is that when he is finding it difficult, he seems to get reserves of mental strength and character and gets the results, and I think that’s why everybody is full of admiration for him. “I’ve got no doubts that his peers all look up to him because of the qualities he’s got and, equally, the way he treats everybody. I think that’s all credit to him, and why he is a champion in the true sense of the word champion. “He has lost games but he carries himself well, you don’t see tantrums and he conducts himself in a fantastic manner, and he’s an absolute credit to darts.” While Coyle finds himself in the spotlight constantly at the top level of English football, he revealed he rarely envies the likes of Taylor, James Wade, Simon Whitlock and Mervyn King. “When you look at a team sport you could have an off-day but you can camouflage that because you’re team-mates have helped you and you can still win the game, but in sports like darts or boxing, if a player like Phil has a bad day then it’s there for everybody to see,” he added. Tickets for the UK Open start from £20 and are available on 0844 871 2932 or from the Reebok Stadium Box Office.