BROOKS GOOD TO ME
‘I’m sure we’ll go straight back up but must improve our breaking teams down.’
DAVID BROOKS is confident Bournemouth will win promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt.
But the Cherries midfielder has told his team-mates they will need to get a bit more Championship savvy if that is to be the case.
Bournemouth needed a late equaliser from Atletico etico Madrid loanee Rodrigo go Riquelme to earn a point.
And while the
Rams, who could well be under new ownership this week k if the EFL ratifies es Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed ayed Al Nehayan’s bid to buy them, h deserved a point, Brooks was disappointed they didn’t come away with all three.
He said: “I genuinely believe we will be going up and we will be in and around the automatic spaces.
“The confidence is good, we’re playing some really nice stuff at times, but we have to get used to grinding out results and a bit more physical play, and we’ll be up there.
“It’s going to be difficult this season with us being one of the better teams in the Championship.
“People are going to sit back and be hard to break down.
“So the team is going to have to get better at the little intricate stuff and trying to break teams down, which I thought we were good at at times against Derby.
“We’re nine unbeaten so we’re doing everything right, we just need to get a bit better at breaking teams down. We haven’t been used to that in the last five years.”
Brooks had hoped to come on against one of his idols, Wayne Rooney (above), but the Derby skipper was substituted after 61 minutes – eight minutes before the Welshman was introduced.
Brooks added: “He’s still a player. I’m a Manchester United fan so I was a bit starstruck by him to be fair. I was going to try to get his shirt after but didn’t catch him. I’ll try to get him in the away game.”
Graeme Shinnie, impressive in Derby’s midfield, gave the visitors the lead when he stabbed home a loose ball after Rooney’s free-kick hit the Bournemouth wall.
Shinnie said: “I was in amongst it and the ball came back in and I managed to hold off their players.
“It took a bit of a deflection and took an eternity to actually hit the back of the net.
“It was a good start to the game but frustrating not to hold on.”