EDDIE Howe has described as a “worthwhile investment” dipping his hand into his own pocket to help Cherries in their hour of need.

Howe and assistant boss Jason Tindall both stumped up their own money to pay for vital commodities when times were tough.

The revelation came on the day Cherries’ accounts for their first season in the Premier League were published – showing an £87.9million turnover and a profit after tax of £3.4m.

It is a far cry from the dark days of 2009 when the club was living a hand-to-mouth existence in League Two and had the threat of going out of business hanging over it.

Howe and Tindall, just months into their Dean Court tenure, personally financed bringing in conditioning coach Jon Dalzell and also paid a number of other backroom staff.

Turnover during their first season in the top flight increased by £75m, while the profit came on the back of a £39.4m loss in the Championship-winning campaign.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Echo, Howe said: “When you are a Premier League club, the figures change dramatically.

“We were uncomfortable with that to start with because it was unknown ground. There are a few more noughts on the end than when we were playing and first managing but it goes with the territory.

“When we first started in management, there were things we wanted to bring in and I think anyone would have done the same in our position. You want to be professional and you want to do things the right way but we just didn’t have the resources to do it.

“We paid for someone to come in and take our pre-season because we felt it would be better for the players to bring in an expert to take the fitness side of things to allow us to concentrate on our coaching. We also covered the cost of a masseur for the players.

“They were things we did through choice and nobody forced us. We did them because we wanted to win.

“We have got it back in so many different ways and through the success we have had. When you are working in the Premier League, you aren’t badly off financially. It was a worthwhile investment.”