Wayne 'Hawaii 501' Mardle believes Fallon Sherrock should put her ambitions of playing in next year's Premier League on the "backburner".
Sherrock's dreams of repeating her PDC World Championship heroics were dashed by veteran Steve Beaton at Alexandra Palace in the first round of the tournament.
Her hopes of sinking 1996 champion Beaton - who was making a record 31st appearance - fell flat as the 57-year-old claimed a fine 3-2 win.
Sherrock, who has already reached the Nordic Masters final and the Grand Slam quarter-finals this year, needed two wins at Ally Pally to ensure a top 64 spot on the PDC Order of Merit, which would have earned her an automatic Tour Card.
But the 27-year-old from Milton Keynes will now have to go through Q School if she wants to play on the tour.
However, Mardle believes that would jeopardize her chances of playing in the Women's Series. As for the Premier League, the former World Championship semi-finalist says she should forget about taking part in the glorified exhibition event.
"It's all gone a little bit wrong with that defeat to Steve because it means she's got to go to Q School, which is brutal, absolutely brutal. And to win one (event) just outright, rather than doing the whole four days and accumulating enough points, is the most likely route for her," Mardle told Sky Sports.
"But with that there's also a few negatives. I was kind of waxing lyrical during the Grand Slam saying 'why not consider her for a Premier League place?' because of the way she was playing.
"I really do believe that it has to be forgotten about and put on the backburner because that performance wasn't good enough to warrant a Premier League spot."
Mardle continued: "If she had beaten Steve and gone on to have a 98 average and gone on to lose to Kim Huybrechts, there's still an argument there, but right now there's not an argument.
"So there's a case of go to Q School or maybe not go to Q School. I don't know what plans her management have because if she does go to Q School it means she can't play on any ladies' tour and she will effectively be playing the best men and Lisa Ashton, week in, week out.
"That hasn't worked out well for Lisa Ashton at all. It's been brutal for her, so there's decisions to be made. It's not a case of getting a Tour Card and see where it takes you because getting a Tour Card is really difficult."
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