EMERGING talent David Brooks insists his only focus is looking ahead with Cherries – and says he will not dwell on being shown the door by Manchester City.

Winger Brooks has made an eye-catching start since joining Cherries in the summer for an initial fee of £10million from Championship outfit Sheffield United.

The gifted 21-year-old has started all but one of their 13 games in the Premier League, netting in wins against Crystal Palace, Watford and Fulham.

Brooks on Saturday will be hoping to keep his place when Eddie Howe’s men face leaders Manchester City – the club which discarded him as a teenager.

Warrington-born Brooks was scouted by City playing for his local club Woolston Rovers and spent almost 10 years in the youth ranks at the Etihad.

However, during his stay, the financial landscape changed quite dramatically, a move which resulted in Brooks’s life being turned upside down when he was 16.

He became a casualty of the club’s vast Arab investment and joined Sheffield United, then in League One, after failing to win a professional contract at City.

Brooks was offered terms by the Blades in March 2015 and cut his teeth during a five-match loan spell with Halifax Town in the National League at the start of the following season.

He caught the eye of Cherries scouts during his breakthrough campaign in the Championship last season, prompting his move to Dorset five months ago.

“It will be nice to go back there and hopefully play,” said Brooks, speaking to the Daily Echo. “It is a fixture I am looking forward to.

“I was there for 10 years and didn’t make the cut for the pro contracts. I was released and had to dust myself off. Thankfully, I have made it back (to the Premier League).”

Asked whether he felt he would have a point to prove or if his exit was all in the past, Brooks replied: “A bit of both really.

“You would like to do well to show them what they are missing but I think they are doing all right for themselves at the moment anyway!

“I am just focussing on my own career and not on what happened in the past.”

Asked whether his move to Cherries had gone better than he had expected, Brooks said: “I believe in myself to play well so it is not a surprise and the team’s performances have been really good.

“I think I have played well and it has been nice to stay in the team for a little run of games. Hopefully, it can continue.”

Brooks insisted Cherries could go to the Etihad with no fear – the first of nine games in a punishing 33-day schedule – despite heading to the North West on the back of three successive 2-1 defeats.

He added: “We are eighth so I don’t think it is as big a deal as some people are making out. We have played some really good stuff and know we can cause Manchester City problems if we perform well.”