Shaun Murphy would relish a Crucible showdown in the next few weeks with Jimmy White, who he believes is still capable of winning his first World Championship title.

Victory in today’s qualifier against Robert Milkins will see six-time beaten finalist White included in the draw tomorrow for the competition in Sheffield, which gets under way on April 20.

The 50-year-old, defeated in the 1984 final and then each one from 1990 to 1994, last appeared in the World Championship seven years ago.

And should White secure his return to the tournament this evening, 2005 world champion Murphy, 20 years his junior, would love to be pitted against him – even though he regards him as a “potential banana skin”.

“The chance to play him in the World Championship is something that I never really thought I would get,” Murphy said.

“So if he does qualify and if we are paired together, it would be a great thrill.”

Murphy won the 2005 title after coming through qualifying and the world number four is convinced White has it in him to do the same.

“I’m sure that somewhere deep down, he knows he has still got the game to be a world champion,” Murphy said.

“I’d be surprised if he seriously believed he was going to win the World Championship this year, because the standard has just got so good. But he is capable of it – he has always been capable of it, and it is a surprise to many that he has never won it. So who knows?”

Murphy was speaking at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, where he was presenting a cheque for £3,000, money he has raised by donating £100 for every break of 100 or more he has made in competitive matches since last year’s World Championship.