Mark Allen: I still believe I will be World Champion one day

The Antrim man saw his dreams of a maiden Crucible crown dashed in a dramatic late-night 13-12 defeat to all-time great John Higgins in Monday night’s last 16 clash in Sheffield.

The world number three missed a red with the rest on 62 as the Wizard of Wishaw conjured up a magical clearance to win on the final black.

Allen told SportsBoom.com: “I believe I can come back and win this.

“I’m disappointed now after losing at the World Championship on the black-ball.

“But, it’s been another very steady season without being spectacular.

“I played really well at the Champion of Champions but other than that it hasn’t been good enough.

“I’m doing all right, but I don’t want to be doing all right, I want to be doing a lot better. I know I’m capable of more.

"That’s a match that got away and I’m devastated with the way that I played more than anything.

“I had so many chances to win that match 13-6, 13-7 or 13-8. That wouldn’t have been too far from the realms of possibility with the chances I had.

"I just didn’t play well enough. That’s the thing where I’ll have to go away and look at what really went wrong.

“It’s a tough place to play at the best of times, but when you’re fighting with what game you’re going to play it’s not a lot of fun out there.

"I don't think I need to change much because I created so many chances. I just missed too many balls and that's disappointing because that's something I pride myself on by having a strong cueball."