Ronnie O'Sullivan will launch his Betfred World Championship bid by facing a former potato farmer who was desperate to avoid him.

Tamworth's David Gilbert waited for news of the draw with one thought in his mind.

"Keep Ronnie on the other side of the draw," he said.

But the 34-year-old struck unlucky, being the qualifier drawn to tackle Chigwell's five-time Crucible king who has already this year won the Masters and Welsh Open.

Their clash will span the opening Sunday and Monday, and Gilbert must put himself in the mindset to tackle the player he most keenly wanted to avoid.

"It'll be a massive occasion," he said. "I played Stephen Hendry there (in 2007) and didn't realise how big or important that day was at the time."

When it comes to O'Sullivan, Gilbert will also have to rein in his admiration of the 40-year-old.

"I'm a massive fan of him myself and I'll just have to get on with it and play the table," he said.

Gilbert used to prop up meagre snooker earnings by working in potato fields near his home, but times have changed and he is enjoying the best season of his career. In November he was a runner-up at the International Championship in China.

He credits wife Abi as a driving force, steering him away from a lifestyle that bore a resemblance to those lived by many party-loving 1980s snooker stars.

"I'm getting on a bit in years and feel like I've made a lot of errors getting to where I am now," Gilbert said. "I'm finally living like a professional snooker player rather than a lad."

O'Sullivan is no stranger to enjoying himself away from the table, with a close circle of friends that includes Ronnie Wood, Damien Hirst and Jimmy White.

But unlike O'Sullivan, Gilbert felt his snooker was affected, and he can put his finger on the moment his wake-up call arrived.

"I met the wife," Gilbert said. "She tries to keep me on the straight and narrow. Not all the time, I still like the odd blowout, but I try to behave now and again.

"She's the only person I let tell me what to do. I've not lived the life of a professional snooker player in my earlier years, and that's probably why I've not done so well.

"She says, 'Get a grip, do you want to go and sit on the tractor for 14 hours a day?'.

"I don't really look back with regret. I had a good time. I was just a young lad who wouldn't listen to anybody."

Gilbert was asked whether it was late nights and beers that had hindered his career.

"Probably a bit more than that but let's leave it at that," he said.

He can expect at least some of the Crucible crowd to be behind him against the ever-popular O'Sullivan.

"I'm sure a few of the Tamworth massive will be desperate to get up, they love it at the Crucible," Gilbert said.