A few hours from the start of the UK Championship, Ronnie O’Sullivan has set his sights on snooker’s new generation.

The Rocket won two majors last year and Mark Williams rolled back the years at the Champion of Champions, with O’Sullivan claiming the ‘Class of 92’ had more work ethic than the current crop of stars.

“We had that professionalism about us that maybe the newer generation (don’t have),” he said.

“Maybe the newer generation has had it too easy. When we came through the amateur circuit, you had to earn your way through it.

“Now a lot of players turn pro, they think they’re good, but they really aren’t.

“We had to go through the hard way – the juniors, the amateurs, then the pros and work our way through it.

“So have a lot of other players, but we were in a golden era for snooker I guess.”