A round of applause for those rose-tinted specs

The Cherries have a new secret weapon: shades to filter light from screens to aid deep sleep

It’s all well and good running 10 kilometres on a Saturday afternoon, but if you don’t get a good night’s kip, you won’t make the most of a lung-busting 90 minutes.

Bournemouth’s squad have tapped into the recovery benefits of sleep by donning shades before they hit the sack, but we’re not talking about a pricey pair of Ray-bans.

Sleepspecs filter out the blue light emitted from TVS and mobile phones, which can stop the production of melatonin – the hormone that makes you feel sleepy.

“We’re looking at every single way we can improve players’ performances, and sleep is an underrated recovery tool,” said first-team manager Eddie Howe (above).

But what if you don’t wear them and fancy a box-set binge in bed? “You’ll think that you are going to sleep, though you won’t go into a deep sleep,” revealed Dr Rob Daniel.

“Deep sleep is where the body rejuvenates itself, but if you don’t access that then you’ll feel tired the next morning and won’t recover properly, increasing the risk of injury.”

Some clubs ban players from using phones and watching TV before bed.

“We thought that was extreme,” admitted the Cherries’ head of medicine, Craig Roberts, “so we put some tools in place to help them.”

Or you could just read a book, lads...