Confidence is an attribute Martin Gould has in abundance and something he’ll need if he wants to go far at the Betway UK Championship.

A 6-2 victory over Robbie Williams at the ranking tournament included a break of 135 as well as four half-century breaks on the baize at the Barbican, in York.

The Pinner cueman will play Hossein Vafaei for a place in the last 16 and after making the quarter-finals at the Shanghai Masters and final four at the International Championship, confidence is high in the Gould camp.

He said: “I’ve got the confidence. I’ve had a good couple of tournaments before this – but you have to keep going.

“Everyday is a new day and you have to take one match at the time. If you don’t, there’s always something that might come back and kick you on the backside.

“I’m just planning my strategy for the next game and hopefully reproduce what I’ve been doing so far.”

Gould found it tough against his first round opponent, Northern Irishman Joe Swail, eventually prevailing 6-3.

But the 36-year-old had sympathy for his latest victim Williams and claimed the world number 49 simply wasn’t at the races.

He said: “I played well I thought but if I’m super critical I don’t think I played great. If you look at the score sheet it looks as if I’ve played awesome.

“I know how dangerous Robbie can be but he didn’t turn up, which made my job a lot easier.

“I didn’t feel flat or anything. But it was one of those matches where the scoreline could’ve been 6-0. It felt like one of those games where I went through the motions.

“After I played Joe [Swail], I didn’t want to play your best stuff early doors. It’s a long tournament; we’ve still got a long time ahead.

“You want to ease yourself in. If you win comfortably you’re not knackering yourself for the rest of the tournament.”

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