DAN Hodges has left Cherries to join Eddie Howe at Newcastle United.

Hodges spent close to a decade at Cherries, first joining in 2012 when Paul Groves was in charge of the club.

Groves quickly moved on, but Hodges remained, working his way up to a position as head of sports science.

Despite the arrivals of the likes of Alastair Harris and Charlie Moore to Cherries over the summer under new head coach Scott Parker, Hodges remained in position until being snapped up by Howe this week.

Howe has also confirmed he will be working alongside former Cherries coaches Jason Tindall, Simon Weatherstone, Stephen Purches and Graeme Jones at Newcastle, having taken over as boss this week following the departure of Steve Bruce.

It is the 43-year-old's first job in football since leaving Cherries in August 2020.

Discussing his new backroom team on Tyneside, Howe confirmed: "Coming with me are Jason Tindall, Stephen Purches, Simon Weatherstone and Dan Hodges.

"Graeme Jones is still in the mix and I'm delighted to work with Graeme.

"I think adding someone to my backroom team was something that I'd looked at and considered during my break and it's something that I positively wanted to do.

"So having Graeme already here in situ and is someone I know, respect and really like, I think it's going to be a perfect match for us."