BRETT Pitman is confident he can hit the Cherries goal trail and insists he is determined to establish himself as a Championship hotshot at Dean Court.

The 25-year-old, Cherries’ leading scorer last term, missed the final chunk of pre-season after sustaining a hamstring injury against Spanish giants Real Madrid.

But the prolific striker, who plundered 19 goals in 26 matches to spearhead Cherries’ promotion from League One, has stepped up his bid for full fitness and continued his comeback with a half-hour cameo in the defeat at Watford on Saturday.

And after hitting 20 goals across two seasons in the second tier with Bristol City, Pitman is adamant he can make a big impact with Cherries once he regains full match sharpness.

Discussing his injury battle, the homegrown frontman told the Daily Echo: “It has not been ideal. I am just focusing on getting fit and when the gaffer thinks I am ready to play, I will play.

“My goals-to-game ratio at Bristol City was pretty strong but I want to establish myself here and play as many games as I can because I am sure I will score goals at this level.

“You can probably get away with playing when you are less than fully fit in League One but, in the Championship, you definitely can’t. Everyone has to be 100 per cent and performing, otherwise you get found out pretty quickly.

“It is a weird league because everyone can beat everyone and I guess that is what makes it so exciting to watch and pretty difficult to play in.”

Meanwhile, the Jersey-born forward revealed that the mood in the Cherries camp was good and that the squad had toiled in training to banish the ghost of the 6-1 defeat at Watford last time out.

“Everyone has worked hard,” added Pitman.

“It is never nice to lose games heavily and, maybe, we showed a bit of naivety towards the level.

“If we are not at full strength and performing well, then we will get beaten by that margin again and nobody wants that.

“We need to be right on it and if we are, we will win a lot of games in this league.

“There have been stages in both of our opening games where we have looked very comfortable and other times where we have looked less comfortable. Not many of us have played much football at this level and it is a learning curve, but there is a lot of determination in the squad and I am sure we will develop into a Championship side.”