Mark Allen has hit out at the Rocket and told him the Betfred World Championship is “not the Ronnie O’Sullivan show”.
The world No 1 has a film crew in tow at the Crucible as he bids to level Scottish legend Stephen Hendry’s haul of seven world titles.
But Northern Ireland’s top potter stressed the rest of the field are more than just a support cast for his upcoming documentary and are ready to knock the snooker star off his perch.
Read more: Ronnie O'Sullivan makes Mark Allen prediction ahead of Crucible showdown
“It’s not the Ronnie O’Sullivan show when we’re here at the Crucible,” slammed the Antrim ace.
“The documentary might be, there will be a lot of players trying to ruin that.
“There are 16 players left battling it out and it’s not all about Ronnie.
“I appreciate what he brings to the game and how good he is, but there are a lot of players standing in his way to think about it.”
Allen knows just what it takes to beat the Rocket on the game’s grandest stage.
The Pistol brought the Rocket crashing back down to earth with a bang when he was the defending champion in 2009.
That victory inspired Allen’s best ever run as he reached his one and only semi-final.
And Ulsterman Allen hopes lightning strikes twice and is ready to stand up to O’Sullivan and whatever antics which may be thrown his way during their last-16 showdown today.
The pair famously clashed when O’Sullivan, who kicked off the mind games this week by tipping Allen to one day be world champion ahead of their meeting, claimed Allen was moving in his eye-line during the 2020 Champion of Champions.
Allen laughed off the ludicrous accusation and dumped the Rocket out as he went on to win the illustrious invitational event.
The former Masters champion said: “Ronnie’s an absolute genius, but there are times he tries other things to win matches as well.
“That’s something I’ve never done, I just want to play snooker and if I’m not good enough on the day then so be it.
“I’m not one to shy away from confrontation which you’ve seen over the years.
"I find if you’re playing Ronnie and he starts to get agitated then it means you’re doing stuff right.
"It’s not often he does that stuff when he’s on top so hopefully I can get him at it.
“I don’t think I can get into his head, I think he gets into his own head.
“There have been times in the past, the Champion of Champions is the perfect example, he got himself worked up over nothing. I’ve watched the video back a million times and I definitely didn’t do anything. At that stage he just got himself at it.”
Read more: Mark Allen makes 'no stone' vow ahead of Crucible assault
Read more: Ulster will rally around devastated Tom O'Toole after red card, says Iain Henderson
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