PAUL Davison's bid for glory in the Betway UK Snooker Championship has been jeopardised by a dodgy tummy!

The Pickering-based player picked up a stomach bug at last week's Northern Ireland Open and has spent several days laid up instead of the practice room.

Davison meets Newcastle's Gary Wilson this morning in the first round at York Barbican.

"I have been in bed with a stomach bug and lost a bit of weight since I got back from Ireland," he admitted yesterday. "It's not exactly been the best preparation in the world.

"I still don't feel 100 per cent and I couldn't even get out of bed last Friday. It's a shame because I have been playing really well in the last few weeks.

"When you are not able to practice properly, you are not sure which player is going to turn up - the good, the bad, or the average - but if I can get through the first round match, it will give me confidence and hopefully I will be fully recovered for the second round."

Davison, 43, is good friends with Wilson, the number 39 seed, and the pair regularly practice together between tournaments.

They have met only once previously in a competitive game, however, when Wilson won in the China Open.

Davison heads into today's game on the back of meetings with two of the best players in the game - John Higgins and Mark Selby.

He was was narrowly beaten by Selby in the first round of the International Championship last month but lost 4-0 to Higgins last week in the first round of the Northern Ireland Open.

"I played Mark in China and, although I lost 6-4, it was a game I probably should have won," he said. "Against John Higgins, I was 3-0 down before I even got a look in.

"Every pot I went for had gone in - I had a 100 per cent potting record and a 95 per cent ratio from safety shots - and there I was 3-0 down and wondering 'what is going on here?'

Seeded number 90, Davison needed to qualify through Q school last year to regain his place on the tour.

He always relishes the opportunity to play at the Barbican - which is just half an hour's drive from his home in Ryedale - but admits that he is a little disappointed to be playing just after breakfast time!

"If I was playing in the evening, I would have had around 50 people cheering me on but the organisers have put me on at 9.30 in the morning!" he sighed. "There are a few friends and supporters coming down but, unfortunately, not as many as I would have liked because it is a schoolday.

"But it's always nice to play on my home turf," he stressed. "I can practice on my own table in York and then it's just a five minute walk to the Barbican where the atmosphere is great. If I can have a nice run to the third or fourth round and be involved in the second week that would be great."