CHERRIES star Adam Smith revealed how a working holiday over the summer had helped him on the comeback trail.

Smith, who netted Cherries’ consolation in the 3-1 defeat by Manchester United, missed the final six games of last season due to a hernia.

And due to the persistent nature of the injury, boss Eddie Howe had concerns he would be without the versatile 25-year-old for the start of the new campaign.

But in an attempt to speed up his recovery, Smith took it upon himself to enlist the services of a specialist personal trainer while on vacation in America.

He had daily sessions under the guidance of the Los Angeles-based fitness expert who deals mainly with athletes and NFL players.

And the gruelling work-outs paid dividends as Smith was able to return ahead of schedule, the defender coming back midway through pre-season.

Smith’s goal against Manchester United capped an impressive individual performance which saw him voted sponsors’ man of the match.

The Londoner, who penned a new four-year deal in May, told the Daily Echo: “It was difficult for me being injured over the summer.

“I worked hard to get back and although it was nice to get the goal, I would rather have had the three points.

“I worked every day with a personal trainer when I was on holiday. It wasn’t ideal but I knew I had to work hard to get back. She works with a lot of athletes and NFL players so knows what she is doing.

“It was great that it all paid off. To be honest, I don’t think I would have been fit without the personal trainer. She was really good and helped me a lot.

“I wasn’t able to do a lot during pre-season so still don’t think I am match fit. Hopefully, I can kick on now.”

Despite tasting defeat at the hands of Jose Mourinho’s expensively-assembled United, Smith was quick to dismiss the notion that Cherries would be unable to compete on a regular basis with the Premier League big guns.

He said: “We don’t have that mentality. They are a big club but you could see in the first half that they didn’t have much more than us and didn’t really open us up.

“When it was 0-0, I imagine they were thinking we were a good side because they didn’t know how to open us up and we were frustrating them.

“The first goal was a sloppy one to concede but they also got lucky with a couple of their goals. But if you give chances to top players, they are going to punish you.

“It was disappointing to lose but I thought we were probably the better team in the first half so we can take a lot of positives from that.”