EDDIE Howe says the fact Cherries lead the charts in terms of game time given to English players by Premier League teams this season is the direct product of a club policy.

A study published this week revealed domestic footballers account for 81 per cent of the minutes played by Howe’s side in their seven matches this seaon.

Cherries, with their wealth of homegrown players – and their locally reared manager – are an oddity in today’s English top flight, with its prevailing foreign influence.

Howe told the Daily Echo: “It’s been a conscious transfer policy to go British and to look within these shores for our players. But that’s not to say we’ve totally blanked out the foreign market because that’s not the case.”

Only Burnley (62%), Crystal Palace (53%) and Everton (52%), among Cherries’ Premier League counterparts, fielded national players for more than half of the minutes contested prior to this month’s international break.

Indeed, Howe’s team’s most recent game a fortnight ago saw them face a Watford team whose English contingent have played only nine per cent of their side’s total league minutes this season.

One contributory factor to Cherries’ homegrown drive, according to the manager, is the simple matter of resources.

A report this week, for example, revealed Manchester United have added 50 scouts to their worldwide network of talent spotters since January.

“We have to be very selective about the players we bring in,” said Howe. “Our scouting network won’t be the size of other clubs at Premier League level and we don’t want to take too many risks at this stage.

“That will go hand in hand with that (the figures unearthed by the study). If you have more British players here, then naturally they will play more than other nationalities.”

Cherries’ summer recruitment reinforces Howe’s claim. Of the club’s eight new arrivals, only Lys Mousset, the French striker signed from Le Havre, could be classed as the type of risky purchase the boss is primarily seeking to avoid.

By contrast with Premier League novice Mousset – a player whose goals his former club are desperately missing this season – the remainder of Cherries’ new boys are either English or have previous English top-flight experience.

Today’s opponents Hull City have employed domestic footballers for 39 per cent of their minutes played this term. The newly-promoted side this week confirmed Mike Phelan as their permanent manager (albeit on a deal until the season’s end) – making the hitherto caretaker the fourth English boss working in the Premier League.

“The most impressive thing about the job he’s done in a short space of time is how he’s impacted their way of playing,” added Howe. “I’ve been very impressed when I’ve watched them, so we’re under no illusions about the difficulty of this game.

“We had quite a few dealings when we were at Burnley and he was at Manchester United (as assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson). I’ve always found him a really approachable, decent football man, who knows the game inside-out.”