Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen is expecting a tough battle against Neil Robertson on Wednesday when the pair battle it out in the last 16 of the UK Championship.

Allen continues to impress in 2018 after already winning the two biggest titles of his career.

He won the Masters in January before lifting the International Championship in China last month.

The 32-year-old looks like he will be hard to stop after beating Iran’s Hossein Vafaei 6-2 on Tuesday.

Allen secured breaks of 87, 83, 56, 86 and 60 on his way to victory and he will now take on Robertson in the last 16.

Robertson lost to Allen in the final of the International Championship and the world number seven is ready for a tough contest.

He told World Snooker: “Overall I played well and didn’t make many mistakes.

“I know the problems Hossein has had with visas, he would be much higher in the rankings but for that. He’s good enough to be a top-32 or even a top-16 player.

“Neil Robertson will be out for revenge. I’m here to compete on the big stage against the best players and Neil is one of those. He’s a class act, he has won everything.

“I will need to go out and play like I did against him in Daqing. We both go for our shots and play the game the right way – and that’s what the crowd want to see. We should feel obliged as players to entertain.”

With both players in fine form, there’s nothing to split them in the betting and they are both priced at 1.85 to win.