MATTHEW Stevens is hoping that being back on home soil will give him the edge over his opponents when the Welsh Open gets under way on Monday.

The Carmarthen cueman heads into the two-week competition in mixed form, with his season having taken a downturn since he won the Northern Ireland Trophy in August and Pot Black Cup in October.

Stevens will be hoping he fares better at the Newport Centre than he did in the competition last year when he fell early with a 5-2 loss to Mark King in round two.

He faces an opening match with the winner of the first round clash between David Gray and Mark Davis and hopes a return to Wales can trigger a change in fortunes.

The 28-year-old said: "It would be great to get this title for obvious reasons. I've won the UK Championships and the Masters, and other than the World Championships this would be the one I would love to win because it's on home soil.

"Even though I haven't got the best record in the tournament I like playing in Wales and it's nice to have my family and friends in the crowd supporting me. I travel to the matches from home and sleep in my own bed, so hopefully the small things like that can give me an edge and a bit more confidence."

It has been a frustrating season for Stevens, who has seen himself slip from fourth in the world rankings to 20th in the new provisional table.

But he hopes a good performance can turn his season round in time for the World Champion-ships in April.

Competition favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan is attempting to become the first player to win the tournament three times in succession in its 28-year history.

But the Rocket will face a stiff challenge from the likes of Stephen Hendry, John Higgins and the current world champion and conqueror of Stevens at the Crucible, Shaun Murphy.