EDDIE Howe insists “I haven’t seen a drop” in performance from veteran goalkeeper Artur Boruc, who turned 40 last week, adding: “He looks a lot younger than his birth certificate says.”

The Pole has been named on the bench for every Premier League fixture for Cherries this term, serving as back-up to 21-year-old Aaron Ramsdale.

He has not featured on the pitch since April, with young Irish stopper Mark Travers also handed the gloves in that time.

But Howe was full of praise for the way Boruc has kept himself in shape.

“It’s incredible really because you look at Artur and I don’t see a 40-year-old in front of me,” the Cherries boss told the Daily Echo.

“I see a much younger guy and I think that’s all down to how he’s looked after himself.

“I certainly think he’s had to change as he’s got older. He’s had to adapt his lifestyle to stay lean, stay trim, stay agile. For a goalkeeper that’s everything.

“He’s worked incredibly hard this year in different ways to keep himself fit because as you get older, as I know, you can’t pound your body like you used to.

“For Artur as a goalkeeper jumping around as an 18 or 19-year-old, if he did that now his body would not probably cope with that stress.

“So he’s done a lot of boxing, a lot of gym work to stay trim and lean and full credit to him because he looks a lot younger than his birth certificate says.”

Boruc, who was recently voted into Echo readers’ Cherries team of the decade, is currently enjoying his sixth season with the club having joined initially on loan from Southampton.

Asked what the secret to his longevity is, more than 20 years on from the start of his playing career in hometown Siedlce, the former Poland international told the Daily Echo: “There’s no secrets to be honest, just work hard and try to do your best.

“I’ve changed my mentality from when I was 30 to be honest. I’ve felt like there is something changing in my body as well. It wasn’t as easy as it was to lose a couple of pounds.”

Discussing his change of mindset, Boruc added: “It was a big thing for me.

“When I was leaving Fiorentina (in 2012) I didn’t have a club for a while and I didn’t know what I was going to do.

“I spent maybe two months just running in the park. I hate running by the way.

“I noticed that without proper training, goalkeeper training, it’s not as easy as it was to be ready to be back in games.

“That’s when I started changing my work and approach to football.”

Now in his 40s, Boruc could join an elite club should he feature for Cherries before the end of the season. Just 16 players have played in the Premier League after their 40th birthday, since the top-flight rebranded in 1992, the most recent of which was Shay Given for Stoke in 2016. John Burridge is the oldest player to play in the Premier League, aged 43 for Manchester City against QPR back in 1995.

Asked how much he would like to join that exclusive list, Boruc said: “It will nice to be in this group of over 40s playing in the Premier League.

“It’s just the physical aspect. It’s all about physicality and if you feel good.”

The goalkeeper’s contract with Cherries expires at the end of the season. Quizzed on how much longer he can see the Pole continue playing, Howe said: “That’s all going to be down I think to his mentality and how long he wants to play for.

“Certainly at the moment I see a goalkeeper in training that is still very much at the level.

“I haven’t seen a drop and it’s going to be down to his physicality I think more than anything else, staying in the best shape that he can be.”