WHILE Eddie Howe welcomed new signings into the Cherries dressing room this summer, the club was also busy strengthening its squad in the kitchen – clearly they were taking promotion to League One as seriously off the pitch as they were on it.

The new, apron-clad recruits came in the form of Ese Kousin, from West Beach, and Darren Martin, who previously dished up his brand of cuisine at the Print Room, Aruba and West Beach.

Joining the prawn sandwich brigade, I dropped in at Dean Court to see if the new chefs could bag a hat trick with a three-course match day meal.

Now, usually, if I so much as mention Match of the Day it turns the missus narcoleptic (although she’s not the only one nowadays), but the promises of fine dining goaded her into accompanying me.

Hinting at its aspirations, the club has renamed its restaurant Champions.

It’s also had a lick of paint, a fancy new bar and the old conference hall furniture has been ditched for some more salubrious seating. It looks smart.

Adorning the walls are pictures of sporting champs like Pelé, Senna and Muhammad Ali, plus numerous plasmas so you can watch the early Premiership game while you eat. Distracting? Just a bit.

To kick off our three-course dinner I ordered smoked mackerel with watercress and horseradish cream, followed by sea bass with asparagus and new potatoes.

Liz opted for the leak and spud soup followed by wild mushroom risotto.

With two hours until kick off, the excitement was building. Fans would be congregating down the pub, while I tucked into my smoked mackerel – it all seemed a bit too civilised.

Having said that it was delicious and the horseradish cream was a lovely touch.

Meanwhile the soup slipped down like the Saints through the football league. Very tasty.

Our mains took their time arriving, but I was placated by the succulent sea bass. The potatoes were a tad cold, but the asparagus and fish were cooked perfectly. If the sea bass was the culinary equivalent of a 30 yard volley then the risotto was a bit of a goal mouth scramble – evidently the mushrooms were lovely but it lacked the finishing touch we have come to expect from the Cherries this season.

Happily the chocolate fudge brownie and pear and almond tart left a sweet taste in our mouths, the calories from which we (by that I mean, I) burnt off in the ground for the next 90 minutes.

Match day hospitality at Dean Court (sans booze but including a decent seat for the game) starts at £45 per person.