Ronnie O'Sullivan has admitted that he found his third-round match against Ben Woollaston "tough" going at the UK Championship.

The Rocket, who trailed the contest 2-1 early on, came through relatively unscathed in the end with a 6-2 victory to book his passage through to the last 16.

However, having complained of struggling with an ankle injury earlier this week, as well as describing the tables as "shocking," O'Sullivan was just glad to advance in York.

"The first two matches I was struggling, but my ankle feels fine now," he told BBC Sport. "I have to say the tables are playing unbelievably better now and well done to World Snooker for sorting that out."

"I played well in the end but it was tough. Ben is one of those players that plays well against me, he scores so quickly. I felt like second best out there but I settled in the end. I just had to relax because I was getting frustrated."

Elsewhere, defending champion Neil Robertson advanced courtesy of a 6-2 triumph over Peter Ebdon, while the shock of the round saw Ding Junhui lose out 6-5 against world number 100 James Cahill.