Snooker ace Higgins reckons he'll be in the mix at The Crucible

The 41-year-old – nicknamed the Wizard of Wishaw – was speaking after being named as one of the sporting greats inducted into the inaugural North Lanarkshire Council Hall of Fame.

“I’d love there to be another world championship win in me,” said Higgins, who has won over £6 million in prizemoney in a glorious 25-year professional snooker career.

“Obviously if there wasn’t that’s just the way life is.

“It’s getting harder as I get older obviously but I’ll still be going there this year with a little bit of confidence.

“If I could hit my game for a couple of weeks I could win another one but it’s tough nowadays.

“I think the standard throughout the whole tour now is a lot higher.

“I know people maybe still say Stephen Hendry produced performances that are only matched a couple of times nowadays but you need to look at the whole standard.

“When you look at somebody ranked down in the 50s or 60s, they can blow you away now. That never used to be the case maybe 20 years ago when I was coming through. If you played someone 50 or 60 back then you would have to play really badly to lose the game.

“Nowadays you don’t have to play that badly and these guys are coming through and beating you.”

Higgins, Hendry and Graeme Dott are three Scots Snooker greats who have become world champions over the years. And Higgins said that the pro game in this country could have a rosy future ahead.

“We have got some good young Scottish boys coming through,” added the man who has made eight 147 breaks in his pro career.

“It’s tough just now. The youngsters coming through from the Far East are taking over just now because there are so many more of them playing the sport.

“But hopefully we can get more Scottish players making their mark given the great talent that Scotland has produced.

Higgins finished by outlining his pride at being one of the Sports Hall of Fame inductees.

“It’s unbelievable for me to be in the Sports Hall of Fame,” Higgins said.

“There are some incredible inductees like Sir Matt Busby and the Lisbon Lions and it’s amazing for me to be alongside these legends.”