Defending champion Phil Taylor has admitted that he struggled during his 3-1 win over Rob Szabo in the first round of the PDC World Championship on Friday night.

Szabo stunned Taylor by taking the opening set and missed two darts for a 2-0 advantage in the second set before the 16-time world champion stormed back, and the Stoke-on-Trent thrower was quick to praise the New Zealand player.

The 53-year-old told PDC.TV: "It was a really tough game. I'm pleased to get through that because it was a strange game.

"Any top player would have struggled tonight because you didn't know what Rob was going to do. He was unpredictable, but he's a very good player and he deserved to win that first set.

"I've got a week now until the second round and I'll be ready for that. I can go away now, and get my head down and prepare for next week."

Taylor will play either Michael Smith, Morihiro Hashimoto or Paul Lim in the last 32.