Ryan Day believes adrenaline got him through his opening round victory over John Higgins at the Dafabet Masters.

Day struggled with soreness in his shoulder prior to the pair’s clash at Alexandra Palace on the opening day of the competition, but once play had started, the Welshman was able to focus his efforts on negotiating a way past Higgins.

“Obviously the adrenaline starts pumping – the 20 minutes or so practice I had, it was really sore, but once I got out there, it was fine,” said Day, who reached the quarter-finals last year.

“I just think it’s wear and tear, I had a little bit of a break over Christmas and it might have seized up a bit.”

Higgins, meanwhile, praised Day for his effort and admitted he was far from his best.

“I have to give credit to him for doing that under extreme pressure,” said the Wishaw potter.

“It was the right result. He played a lot better than me. I don’t know what my highest break was, it might have been about 40 again or something. It’s tough, I was pretty bad.”

Watch the London Masters LIVE on Eurosport and Eurosport Player, with analysis from Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.