Judd Trump is hoping for a spot of festive cheer as he looks to win the UK Championship for a second time. The 29-year-old, winner of the York event in 2011, eased into the second round with a crushing 6-0 victory over English veteran David Lilley.

The world number five compiled two century breaks plus another couple of 50+ runs to set up a second-round clash with Dominic Dale.

Dale, now 46, has never gone beyond round three at the Barbican and has only won just one ranking match this season.

The Welshman is priced at 6.50 to pull off a surprise victory while Trump can be backed at 1.10 to get the job done.

Most things point to a Trump success, with the ‘Juddernaut’ having already tucked away the Northern Ireland Open this term while reaching a couple of quarter-finals. He clearly feels at home in Yorkshire and is targeting a decent run at the event as the tournament gets tougher.

“I always enjoy coming back here, it’s a good venue and York’s a nice place to be at Christmas time, I’ll be doing my best to try and replicate that performance from a few years ago,” he said.

“It’s tough, everyone has had the warm-up and now we’re down to the nitty gritty, everyone is at their best and trying their heart out to try and get one of those major titles.”

Ronnie O’Sullivan is the 3.30 favourite to lift the trophy on December 9 for a seventh time.