PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS RACE

• Luke Littler and Nathan Aspinall to miss out on Minehead
• Gary Anderson and Josh Rock face late qualification fight
• Gerwyn Price yet to confirm his place in the 64-player field
• Wessel Nijman assured of top spot on Players Championship rankings

The race to qualify for the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals will culminate in Leicester this week, as the year’s final ProTour double-header takes place in the East Midlands.

Players Championships 33-34 will be held at the Mattioli Arena on November 4-5, as a star-studded 128-player field compete for the £15,000 top prize in each event.

The field for this month’s Players Championship Finals will be confirmed following the conclusion of Players Championship 34, with the top 64 players on the yearly Players Championship rankings assured of qualification.

Reigning champion Luke Littler and last year’s runner-up Nathan Aspinall will be amongst the high-profile absentees from this year’s showpiece, after the pair withdrew from this week’s ProTour double-header.

However, a number of other big names are also at risk of missing out on a place at Minehead, including Scottish icon Gary Anderson, who won the Players Championship Finals in 2014.

Anderson is £2,000 adrift of the qualification cut-off with two events remaining, while Northern Ireland’s number one Josh Rock needs to overturn a £5,750 deficit over the coming days.

World number four Gerwyn Price is currently sat in 58th position - £2,250 above the danger zone - although the Welsh number one is yet to mathematically confirm his qualification.

Wessel Nijman - a winner of six Players Championship titles so far this season - will be the top seed in this year’s showpiece, while Chris Dobey, Kevin Doets and Luke Woodhouse complete the current top four.

The table below displays the latest standings in the race to the Players Championship Finals, which will take place from November 27-29 and will be televised on ITV4 and through the PDC's global broadcast partners.