Ronnie O’Sullivan was delighted to beat long-term rival John Higgins on Friday and expects a tough semi-final clash with Mark Allen at the Players Championship.

The Rocket, who continues to adopt a bizarre Australian accent during post-match interviews, prevailed 6-4 in the Preston quarter-finals to book a last-four clash with the Northern Irishman.

The five-time world champion made breaks of 101, 92, 116 and 53 on his way to a sixth semi-final of the season and is now just three century breaks away from reaching the 1,000 mark.

O’Sullivan and Higgins have met on many occasions during their illustrious careers but it was the Essex man who emerged victorious this time, and he was pleased to get past such a dangerous opponent.

“You get nervous against John because you know what he’s capable of,” he said. “You’ve just got to hang on in there.”

Waiting in the final will be Australia’s Neil Robertson, who beat Judd Trump 6-4 to reach the Guild Hall showpiece, but Allen stands between the ‘Essex Exocet’ and yet another shot at glory.

The 33-year-old, who beat 2015 world champion Stuart Bingham in the quarters, is in decent form and O’Sullivan knows that he will need to be at his best.

“Mark Allen’s a great player, great competitor, had a great season, it’s a tough match but I’ve got 24 hours to think about it and get myself in good shape,” he added.

Allen is priced at 2.75 to claim the spoils on Saturday evening while the world number three can be backed at 1.44 to get the job done.