Mcmanus seeks home comforts after York exit

Getting back to familiar surroundings might prove just the tonic as Alan Mcmanus goes in search of a winning run.

The 48-year-old Scot blew a 5-3 lead against Jimmy Robertson, eventually losing 6-5 in the second round of the Betway UK Championship in York, after hitting four halfcentury breaks in the first eight frames.

Mcmanus, pictured, now heads to the Scottish Open in Glasgow and believes the strains of travelling on the tour have hampered his form.

He said: “Any time you go 5-3 up and throw it away like that it’s a bitter pill to swallow. Good luck to Jimmy. I had a couple of chances and the sort of thing I was taking earlier in the match.

“I lost my discipline out there but I’m going to move on to the Scottish Open.

“It’s a home tournament which is only 15 minutes from my bed so that’ll be nice. It will be nice to pitch up with the other Scottish boys in Glasgow. We’re a close-knit bunch and it was good last year. Hopefully I can have a good run going and I’m definitely looking forward to it.” Meanwhile, the hero of Saturday, Scott Donaldson, has been tipped for success by his defeated opponent – world No 1 Mark Selby. “I thought Scott played absolutely unbelievable. Every time I seem to play him he turns up,” said Selby. “I rate him very highly, he scores well and safety wise he’s very good as well. I was expecting that sort of performance because he’s produced that every time we’ve played.” Ronnie O’sullivan progressed to the third round with the minimum of fuss as he eased to a 6-1 victory over Michael Georgiou. O’sullivan reeled off breaks of 57, 69, 68 and 82 with Georgiou’s 76-0 win in the fifth frame representing his only success. ●Watch LIVE coverage of the UK Championship on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with Colin Murray and analysis from Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.