WORLD’S AT YOUR FEET, BROOKSY

‘Emotional’ Wales boss Page has Cherries star on radar for Qatar

BY

WALES boss Rob Page has left the door to the World Cup open for David Brooks – after admitting the Bournemouth star’s return after cancer moved him to tears.

Brooks has signed a new four-year deal with the Cherries after making an astonishing recovery to full fitness just 10 months after being diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma.

The midfielder has yet to return to first-team action, but such has been the 25-year-old’s rapid progress that Page (right) is adamant a place in the Welsh squad for Qatar is a distinct possibility.

“I’ve seen footage of him training and it’s quite emotional watching it,” confessed Page, who himself is poised to sign a four-year contract with the

FA of Wales as the permanent successor to Ryan Giggs.

“What he’s had to go through to get back to that level, it’s incredible.

“I am just so pleased for him, so we want to take that pressure off him.

“We wouldn’t rush him back. We wouldn’t do that to Bournemouth and we wouldn’t do that to Brooksy.

“Bournemouth have been excellent throughout, how they’ve managed him from what he’s been through from day one.

“To get him to the level of fitness he’s at, they have been sympathetic and brilliant. I don’t want to put any pressure on him. He’ll absolutely get there, whether it’s for September, the World Cup or March.

“He’s part of what we’re doing for Wales moving forward.

“Whether it’s next week or in six months, we’re giving him that time to get back to full fitness.

“It’s not a broken leg he’s had to go through. It’s something really significant and an impact on all the body, not just part of the body.”

Brooks last played on September 29 last year, for Bournemouth in a goalless draw away to Peterborough. Since then, the Cherries have returned to the Premier League while Page steered Wales to a World Cup play-off final victory over Ukraine.

“It was lovely to see in the video what it means to Brooksy to be back playing football,” added Page.

“To see what he was getting out of it was fantastic.

“He’s going to be a massive player for us again in the future and the squad love him to bits.”

Page is also hoping Fulham’s Harry Wilson is on the road to recovery in time for the World Cup in November.

Wilson suffered a knee injury in preseason but Page added: “I’ve asked the question whether he’s going to be fit by September.

“Perhaps that’s a little bit unrealistic, but he’ll definitely be fine for Qatar.”