FOOTBALL star Tommy Elphick used all his tactical nous to curry favour with his new mother-in-law – by substituting her for himself on his honeymoon.

Defender Elphick finalised a £3million move from Cherries to Aston Villa just days after he had tied the knot in home town Brighton with fiancée Hannah.

In pictures: Tommy Elphick's key moments at AFC Bournemouth 

The happy couple headed to the South of France on the first stage of a lavish three-destination honeymoon before Elphick discovered he was a transfer target for Villa.

And on the day Elphick and his wife were due to arrive in Capri, he had to swap the exotic island in Italy for a date at Villa’s training ground in the rainy West Midlands.

In his place, he paid to fly mother-in-law Ann to join Hannah, with mother and daughter spending the final few days of the break lapping up the sunshine while Elphick put the finishing touches to his move.

Elphick, who captained Cherries into the Championship and Premier League, told the Daily Echo: “It certainly won me some brownie points!

“We were due to come back on Thursday and Villa are back in training next Wednesday. Once the move had gone through, I needed to be here to sort our living arrangements and get everything tied up.

“I heard about the interest from Villa on the day we landed in the South of France. My agent contacted me to say things could develop and I needed to be prepared.

“When I told Hannah, she was very understanding. She knew there was a possibility we may have to cut short the honeymoon so she was ready for it when it happened.

“Her guidance and support are as important, if not the most important, to me as to the other people close to me and that was a huge part of why we married. She gave her blessing to me coming back because we knew it was the right thing to do.

“We were in Sorrento when I got the call and had been due to end our holiday on a high in Capri. I had the honeymoon suite booked, the rose petals sorted and the champagne on ice.

“The mother-in-law turned up to replace me and both she and Hannah were buzzing!”