IF the new kid on the Dean Court block is feeling the heat, he has a funny way of showing it.

Enveloped by the media circus, the youngest of Cherries’ likely play-off participants comes across as anything but overawed.

Wearing a wide grin and talking articulately about his eventful first season as a professional, Danny Ings gives every impression that he is primed for the big stage.

At Cherries’ play-off press call, he is surrounded by TV crews, cameras and reporters, but being under the spotlight is nothing new for the 18-year-old. Arguably the club’s most talked-about player, he has taken in his stride the leap from youth ranks to first team.

And with seven league goals from 21 starts – and five in his past seven outings – he appears to be finding form at exactly the right time.

Likely to be selected should he overcome the ankle knock that ruled him out last weekend, Ings could shoulder much of Cherries’ goalscoring burden in the play-off semi-final, first leg against Huddersfield Town tomorrow.

Undoubtedly the biggest game of his fledgling career, the Winchester-born striker could be forgiven a few nerves as he discusses the task awaiting him. But it is his enthusiasm that comes to the surface.

“Pressure is all part of the game,” said Ings, who joined Cherries as a 15-year-old. “If you can take that on board, you have got half a chance.

“I don’t really feel pressure – I turn it into excitement and just enjoy playing games.

“I think for any footballer, if you are enjoying it, you are at your best. If you are playing with a smile on your face and working as hard as you can, no one can knock you as long as you are doing your best.

“The more I enjoy football, the better I play, the more confident I am, the more I want the ball and the more I score goals.”

A chirpy character with an upbeat demeanour, Ings has not had things all his own way.

Plagued by a long-term abdominal injury when in the youth set-up, being retained by Cherries was not a forgone conclusion. And since bursting on to the scene, it has not always been plain sailing.

His rise hastened by the departures of homegrown predecessors Brett Pitman and Josh McQuoid, Ings was a shock pick at MK Dons in December. However, his full debut did not go to plan. With Cherries struggling, he was withdrawn after just 30 minutes.

Ings recalled: “A lot of people would have said I would have crumbled.

“But fair play to Eddie (Howe, then manager), he pulled me aside and said it was nothing to do with me and that I would get that chance again.

“It was just the way the game was going that day that he had to do that.

“But that made me stronger. It made me want it even more and gave me that little bit of hunger to show and believe where I wanted to be.”

Determined to prove his worth, a string of eye-catching performances followed.

But despite demonstrating promise and a commendable work rate, Ings’s finishing was scrutinised and saw him come in for harsh criticism from a minority of fans.

“When you are in form, everybody loves you and you are high in confidence and scoring goals,” he said, philosophically.

“But when you get in four or five positions to score and don’t put any chances away, then people are going to get on your back. That is football and that is fans because they are so passionate.”

Now Ings has the chance to be Cherries’ hero. His aim over the next two weeks is simple – to fire the club into the Championship.

He added: “If someone had said to me at the beginning of the season after my long-term injury that I would be preparing for the League One play-offs, I would probably have laughed at them.”

Ings’s rise, like that of his club, now seems anything but laughable.