JOHN HIGGINS admitted he has “achieved nothing in York” during the time the city has staged the williamhill.com UK Championship and said anything he manages this year would be “a bonus”.

The three-time UK winner had a relatively comfortable ride to the last 64 beating Alex Borg 6-2 without having to expend too much energy. But the Scotsman has been struggling to find form this season and has been frequently changing both his cue and his technique.

Higgins said: “I feel as if I am beginning to hit the ball a little bit better. Over the last couple of months I have just felt really bad so we will see what we can do.

“Out there it didn’t really feel any different. I know there’s an extra couple of tables but it still has a big tournament feel to it.

“I understand a couple of the other top players were stuck out at the back and that is a little bit of a culture shock.

“Players couldn’t really walk into their shots correctly. That will have to be looked at because that’s terrible.”

Asked whether he could play his way into contention at York, he said: “I have achieved nothing here at York so anything I do here will be a bit of a bonus. We will wait and see what happens.”