James Wade dives into Luke Humphries vs Luke Littler row and takes aim at fans

James Wade backed up Gary Anderson's passionate defence of world champion Luke Humphries after reaching the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix, claiming that only Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen "maybe" were better champions than the world No. 1 and that the public were "failing" him.

Anderson had previously insisted that Humphries had been "overlooked" and deserved "a bit more respect" for his accolades and that Luke Littler had stolen the limelight, a theory that has been backed up by one of his biggest rivals at the oche.

"I would like to say me and Gary Anderson don't get on very well, at times," said Wade in his press conference after defeating Gerwyn Price 3-0. "But what I will say is, I believe Luke Humphries is probably the second or third-best world champion we have ever had.

"We have had [lots of] world champions. Luke Humphries has won almost everything after the World Championship, and before it. I really think the public and yourselves [the media] are failing a bit. We have never had a world champion like it. The last world champion we had as good as him, maybe Michael, but before him Phil Taylor."

Humphries himself, however, has refused to suggest that Littler does not deserve the plaudits that have arrived at his door. The 17-year-old reached the World Championship final on his debut, going down to Humphries, before getting his revenge on 'Cool Hands' to win the Premier League.

But Wade has joined Anderson in insisting that Humphries deserves to be treated differently by the media and fans, a higher pedestal on which the darts greats are placed.

"I feel really sorry for Luke Humphries. I don't need to do this. I could have finished the conversation 30 seconds ago and walked out of the door," Wade continued. "You're not going to get someone as great as him for a long time. I think we need to celebrate it. The things he's doing are magnificent.

"I'm not going to rant on as much as Gary did, but the things he's done and the things he's won. Tell me another world champion that's won as much as he's done afterwards.

"It's quite sad for darts. If it was an Olympian gold medallist, Luke Humphries has won more than an Olympic gold medallist in the last three, four, five, six years. You've got someone who is so special and winning so much and it's sad you're not celebrating him."

While Humphries concurs with Wade and Anderson's suggestion that he has been downplayed compared to Littler, the 29-year-old was steadfast in his opinion that the teenager deserved every bit of credit that came his way.

“I do feel like I've got a lot of credit," he said in response to Anderson's rant. "I don't feel like the media hasn't given me credit. I don't feel that way. I just think when you've got a superstar [Littler], it's hard not to go with that. Luke has grown the sport at absolutely incredible levels, he's making the sport bigger for all of us, let's be honest.

“If I was 17, 18 and all the attention was on him and not me, then I'd be gutted. I'm an older guy now. I'm 29. I just want to win titles. That's all I care about.

“I can see the media attention is on him. Maybe I deserve a bit more, maybe I deserve a bit more alongside with him. But the media attention he gets, he deserves.”