Martin Gould claims Ronnie O’Sullivan will have almost the entire crowd on his side when they go head-to-head in the quarter-final of the Betway UK Championship this afternoon.

The Pinner potter defeated Xiao Guodong in a scrappy affair yesterday to set up a clash with the Rocket, who narrowly defeated unheralded youngster Sunny Akani.

And Gould is expecting minimal support from the Barbican crowd as he goes in search of his first ever semi-final at the UK Championship.

“The crowd will probably be 99 per cent on Ronnie’s side but I don’t mind, I’m here to enjoy myself," he said.

“I know what I can do when I enjoy myself and if I can produce something you never know, you might all be in for a treat.”

Although both men have been on the circuit together for more than a decade, this will only be the fourth time they have met on the baize.

And the record books don’t look good for the 35-year-old, who has lost every time to the Romford potter.

But that won’t trouble Gould, who admits he enjoys pitting his wits against the Rocket.

“Apart from the power snooker which you can’t really count, we’ve played twice in non-ranking events and last year in the Champion of Champions,” he added.

“As they say records are made to be broken so for me I enjoy playing Ronnie, but I’ve got to play my game and not worry about what he’s doing.”

It has been a fine season so far for Gould, making the semi-finals and quarter-finals in his last two ranking events.

And the world Number 18 admits he’s loving life on the baize but has not put any pressure on himself against O’Sullivan.

“I’ll just go out there and enjoy myself,” he concluded.

“There’s not much pressure on me because most people won’t be expecting me to dethrone the Rocket so I’ll just go out there and go with the flow.”

Watch LIVE coverage of the UK Championship on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with Colin Murray and analysis from Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.