PLAYMAKER David Brooks revealed how he put his name forward for the number seven shirt at Cherries this season and said: “Hopefully I can just do it justice.”

The Wales international revealed how he was given the jersey - after admitting he thought former number seven Joshua King would be leaving the club.

Brooks, who is also following in the footsteps of club legend Marc Pugh by recently donning the number, scored twice as part of a dazzling display during the Dorset club’s 3-1 victory over Birmingham.

And now he is back to full fitness after being ravaged by injuries last season, the 23-year-old is hoping the new number can bring him further success.

Quizzed on the change of squad number, having formerly worn 20, Brooks told the Daily Echo: “I think obviously we all thought Kingy was leaving.

“So I put my name forward to wanting the number seven shirt and he gave it to me.

“So I’m delighted to have the number. Hopefully I can just do it justice and keep putting in some decent performances.”

Brooks was the standout performer at St Andrew’s to help Cherries get back to winning ways, after defeat at Sheffield Wednesday last Tuesday.

Victory took Jason Tindall’s men fourth in the table, just two points adrift of early leaders Reading.

“Obviously it was a very good win,” said Brooks. “I think after the disappointment of last week we needed to bounce back and we did that in the first half.

“We probably took our foot off the gas a little bit in the second half, which is a bit disappointing but we got the three points which was the main thing.”

The Warrington-born star’s individual display against the Blues saw him named in this week’s Championship team of the week.

Assessing his own display, Brooks added: “Two goals is always nice, to get off the mark for the season. Hopefully it can continue.

“Obviously, I’ve had a bit of a stop-start season due to illness and just little niggles.

“I spent a couple of weeks just building up to try to be able to get 90 minutes in my legs, which I did on Saturday.

“I’m repaying for keeping the faith in me and thankfully I scored two goals.”

He added: “We just need to get better at breaking teams down. I think obviously in the Premier League we probably didn’t have as much possession as we’d like.

“This season I think we can have a bit more and I think we’re getting there with the link play in and around the box.

“It paid off on Saturday with a few great chances and then equalled a few goals as well.”