A sense of perspective for Kettering’s Kyren as he gears up for the Crucible

But he admits he will be heading to the iconic Crucible Theatre in Sheffield this year with a renewed sense of perspective.

On the table, it’s been another consistent season for ‘The Warrior’ as he clinched the European Masters title and, more recently, reached the final of the Tour Championship where he was beaten by former Irthlingborough man Shaun Murphy.

But it was during the Tour Championship that Wilson publicly opened up about the serious health issues his youngest son Bailey had been going through over the past few months.

It’s clearly been a tough start to the year for the Kettering star and his family.

And while Wilson, who reached the final of the World Championship in 2020, insists he will retain the “killer instinct” needed at the top level of any sport, he concedes his recent life experiences have been a “wake-up call”.

“We are still managing how Bailey is,” Wilson, who lives locally with his wife Sophie and their eldest son Finley, said.

“I think it’s going to be a long process to get him right but he is happy in himself.

“If you saw him out and about, you wouldn’t think there’s anything wrong. He’s a little fighter.

“The kids absolutely loved it in Hull and when I got back, Bailey just had the bug for snooker in particular.

“We had a game of pool at the Stirrup Cup (in Barton Seagrave) the other day and he had a crowd of about 20 people hovering around the table and he had them eating out of the palm of his hand.

“Who knows? Let’s hope there’s a future world champion in Finley or Bailey!

“I am sure our family is no different to many, many others. It’s something that’s quite serious that gives you that wake-up call.

“I have definitely fallen victim of making snooker the be all and end all and I have never taken losses very well at all, I am a very bad loser.

“I think it’s important not to lose that because you need a bit of killer instinct to go forward and win titles.

“But there’s a fine balance between letting it completely destroy you and keeping it under wraps and realising it’s not the be all and end all.

“With the wake-up call me and my family have had recently, it’s definitely put that into perspective.”

This year’s Cazoo World Championship will get under way on Saturday with the first-round draw set to be made tomorrow (Thursday) morning on BBC Five Live at 8.45am.

Wilson heads to the Crucible as the number seven seed and will take on one of those who has come through the World Championship Qualifiers this week on a date to be confirmed.

“I feel like every year that first round just gets tougher,” he added.

“You look at the likes of Barry Hawkins who has been in the qualifiers (and was knocked out of them), he’s a two-time world finalist. That’s where the standard is at.

“As a top 16 seed, you’re not going to have an easy game at any stage.

“It’s just about making sure my game is in good shape and that means putting in the hours to be ready for this one.”