Barry Pinches is proud to be flying the Norwich flag and is hoping next year brings City's Premier League survival as well as personal success on snooker's professional circuit.

The world No.107 succumbed to a first-round defeat at the 19.com Scottish Open in Glasgow this week, going down 4-1 to Yan Bingtao after a polished performance from the Chinese player.

But while the Canaries fan remains without a win in a ranking event this season, he believes 2020 may bring an upturn in fortunes and a positive year for Daniel Farke's team on the football pitch.

"I'm proud to be flying the Norwich flag for snooker - it's a great place to live and I'd never move away from there," the 49-year-old said.

"Obviously with Norwich City in the Premier League the city is buzzing, which is really good, and I followed them as a kid and always track their progress.

"I need to get my head down and get some practice with my snooker - I'm confident my game can pick up but I think something needs to change.

"I may need to go and see a coach - I've always fiddled about with cueing, but I'm struggling at the moment to find any consistency with anything so it could be a case of going back to the drawing board."

Pinches suffered a similar first round exit at last month's Betway UK Championship, losing 6-1 to the evergreen Graeme Dott in what has been a difficult spell for the former world No.18.

And while he is consistently striving for his form of yesteryear, he is the first to acknowledge his cueing has been far from its best this season.

"That's another defeat gone here in Scotland, but onto the next now I guess," he added. "It hasn't been a good season - I've played some decent matches but you've got to play better than decently to win nowadays.

"I've got to up my level and find something from somewhere, because at the moment I'm struggling to win games to be honest.

"I've been fairly competitive, but you've got to be looking to win games - I've had some tough draws but I think anyone is beatable over a best of seven format.

"I've got to try and sneak a win against these top players - it's not mission impossible but I'm just not doing that at the moment and it's tough."

Watch the Scottish Open live on Eurosport, Eurosport Player and Quest with studio analysis from Ronnie O'Sullivan and Jimmy White