TAM O'BRIEN insists Arbroath are on a mission to keep riding high at the top of the table  - in time for Alan Soutar's next visit to Gayfield.

Darts star Soutar has taken the World Championships at Ally Pally by storm and the 43-year-old from Arbroath is a massive fan of the high-flying Lichties who're currently surprise pacesetters in the Championship.

O'Brien and his team-mates have been right behind the Dundee firefighter and would love nothing more than to still be in pole position by the time Soutar next comes along to cheer on Dick Campbell's dark-horses.

O'Brien, who's preparing for today’s visit of second-top Inverness, said: "The buzz about the whole town is amazing.

"Obviously we're going quite well just now but when you think of what Alan has been doing down at the Ally Pally, then it's just given everyone another boost.

"I've met Alan before at one of our games. He's a big fan and I know he's as delighted for us as we are for him.

"I'm sure when he gets back up to Arbroath after the World Championships he'll be ready to come and see us again at Gayfield.

"He's just a good, humble guy who supports his local club and we appreciate that.

"He knows how far we've come in recent seasons and how much we're trying to keep the feelgood factor going.

"A few of the lads are actually quite into their Darts. We've all been rooting for him.

"So it's given us that wee bit of extra banter in the dressing-room. It's great for morale."

Arbroath are gearing up to welcome Billy Dodds' Inverness for this afternoon’s showdown in their quest to extend their three-point lead at the top of the Championship.

And O'Brien insists the Angus outfit are intent on beginning 2022 with a bang.

He added: "We lost at home to Inverness on the first day of the season so we don't want a repeat of that.

"To be fair, we've come on leaps and bounds since then. And we just want this good run of form to continue for as long as possible.

"We know Inverness are genuine title contenders but the manager demands that we just focus on ourselves.

"If we can get a positive result, then it would be the ideal way to start the New Year. 

“There's so much positivity around the place that we'll try to take the game to them and get the three points on the day.

“I know there’s a lot of raised eyebrows with us being top right now. 

“But we firmly believe in ourselves and a lot of that comes from the manager.”