Man United fan Luke Littler is booed by the Leeds crowd – after being jeered at Liverpool last month – as he loses in the semi-finals to Michael van Gerwen at a Premier League event

Luke Littler dipped his ears and headed for the eyes as the boos rained down from the crowd in Leeds on Thursday night.

The Manchester United fan faced a barrage of cheers and jeers as he stepped up for night 15 of the Premier League darts season.

Littler, 17, is developing a thick skin after facing a similar prank at Liverpool in April, where he cheered on fans after the Reds’ 2-0 defeat by Everton.

In front of a crowd of Leeds fans – United’s historic rivals – Littler saw his grip on the Premier League pedestal loosen.

Nuke beat Peter Wright 6-1 in the quarter-finals but lost to Michael van Gerwen by the same scoreline in the last four.

Luke Littler had the perfect response when booed by Leeds fans during Premier League Darts Night 15

While there were plenty of cheers, there were plenty of jeers throughout the night as Leeds fans made their feelings known.

World champion Luke Humphries dispatched Van Gerwen 6-5 in the final to close the gap on Littler to five points.

Littler (38pts), Humphries (33pts) and Van Gerwen (27pts) all secured play-off places, while Nathan Aspinall and MIchael Smith will battle it out for the final at the O2 Arena on May 23 .

The teenager wasted his first five chances to land a hat-trick, prompting boos from the crowd, who were only too keen to give him stick.

However, he finally got a hat-trick at the sixth attempt and made sure to hit back at his detractors by turning to them, shaking his fist and smiling.

He knocked out Wright in the quarter-finals, leaving one pundit to speculate about his opponent’s future.

“Peter Wright is in trouble.” This is a walk for Luke Littler,’ Mark Webster told Sky Sports.

“Wright just needs this Premier League campaign to finish. This could be the last we see of the Premier League, you never know. It’s a great end to the season for him.

While Littler won 22 games in an amazing debut season, Wright managed just two wins.

Littler beat Peter Wright 6-1 in the quarter-finals in a stunning start to his series

However, Michael van Gerwen beat Luke Littler before losing to Luke Humphries in the final

Van Gerwen came flying out of the traps against Littler, instantly hitting a 180 and moving on for the first leg.

That sparked a thunder in his opponent as Littler bowled his first maximum and maintained a triple figure score to take the second leg.

However, it was all downhill from there as Littler lost the next five feet to exit the night with a whimper.