MX23RW : Wednesday, July 3 07:24:05| >> :600:365837:365837:

David Brooks looks ahead to "exciting time" for club and country

David Brooks looks ahead to
© Reuters
The Bournemouth forward had two ankle operations in 2019 and then suffered relegation from the Premier League.

Wales forward David Brooks is focusing on an "exciting time" for club and country as he looks to put a nightmare 12 months behind him.

Brooks did not play a senior game for over a year because of two ankle operations and the coronavirus pandemic which placed last season on hold for three months.

The 23-year-old was still struggling for full fitness when Bournemouth were relegated from the Premier League in July and did not complete his first 90 minutes of league football until just before the international break.

Wales v Republic of Ireland – UEFA Nations League – League B – Group 4 – Cardiff City Stadium
David Brooks (second right) celebrates with Gareth Bale (centre) after scoring against the Republic of Ireland on Sunday (Nick Potts/PA)

Brooks scored twice in that 3-1 Bournemouth win at Birmingham and built on it with the second-half winner as Wales beat the Republic of Ireland 1-0 on Sunday to remain top of their Nations League group.

"This is an exciting time for me," Brooks said after scoring his second Wales goal.

"Last year I was out for 12 months and then on a personal note I couldn't affect the team when I did come back to try and get them out of the relegation zone.

"The start of this season has shown we deserve to be in the Premier League and we're all pulling in the same direction to get back there.

"The main focus is to help Bournemouth get back into the Premier League and then to go away and have a good campaign with Wales at the Euros."

The irony is that Brooks might have struggled to make the Wales squad had the Euros not been delayed for 12 months due to Covid-19.

He certainly would not have been anywhere near full fitness for the pan-European tournament, which sees Wales in the same group as Italy, Switzerland and Turkey.

"It's always a worry (about coming back) when you get injured, especially after you've been out for 12 months," Brooks said.

"I was working really hard and then the lockdown hit around the time I was coming back.

"I wasn't best pleased when it happened because I'd just done four or five weeks of pre-season training to get back fit.

"I was off for three weeks and then I went straight into another pre-season, which wasn't very enjoyable.

"This season has been a bit stop-start with little niggles. But it was nice to get 82 minutes against Ireland in my bank as I work back up to full fitness and full sharpness, and I'm just trying to stay fit."

Wales meet Finland in Cardiff on Wednesday to determine who will win Group B4 and secure promotion to League A.

The Dragons are unbeaten in 10 competitive matches and have kept seven successive clean sheets in that sequence.

"You just have to look at the quality in our dressing room, we don't go into any game thinking anything else other than getting three points," Brooks said.

"We'll attack Wednesday in the same way we did against Ireland, knowing we are probably the better team and we should win that game."

ID:422515: cacheID:422515:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:7832:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
England's Harry Kane in action with Belgium's Toby Alderweireld in the UEFA Nations League on November 15, 2020
Read Next:
A look at where the home nations could finish in the Nations League
>
rhs 2.0
Euro 2024 fixtures header
Friday, July 5
 
5pm
Quarter-Finals
Spain
vs.
Germany
 
8pm
Quarter-Finals
Portugal
vs.
France
Saturday, July 6
 
5pm
Tuesday, July 9
Wednesday, July 10
Sunday, July 14
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Germany Germany32107
Q Switzerland Switzerland31205
3 Hungary Hungary31023
4 Scotland flag Scotland30121

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain33009
Q Italy Italy31114
3 Croatia Croatia30212
4 Albania national flag Albania30121

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England31205
Q Denmark Denmark30303
Q Slovenia Slovenia30303
4 Serbia Serbia30212

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Austria Austria32016
Q France France31205
Q Netherlands Netherlands31114
4 Poland Poland30121

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania31114
Q Belgium Belgium31114
Q Slovakia Slovakia31114
4 Ukraine Ukraine31114

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal32016
Q Turkey Turkey32016
Q Georgia Georgia31114
4 Czech Republic Czech Republic30121


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!